A new Harry:Life is a game
by Flyingninjafish
Summary: Harry and I both happen to die at the same time and our Death consultant sends me with all my knowledge in Harry's place to finish his destiny. And gives me Gamer powers just because. Don't look at me like that I was just as confused as you are as to why. I think she was just bored or somethin'. Self insert with gamer powers. No OP, no rape, little slash(if any), harem, lemons.
1. A most confusing meeting

**Disclaimer I don't own Harry Potter that belongs to J K Rowling, amazing woman that she is we love you and the universe you created**

 **AN: A Number of quick things to address before the story starts**

 **This story will take place in 2007 onward though the character will have knowledge up to 2016 but nothing like lottery numbers or sports results.**

 **This is a self insert with the main hero taking on Harry's identity.**

 **I don't particularly like Ron and Dumbledore so there will be some amount of bashing of them as well as Molly, however the rest of the Weasleys will not be bashed save perhaps Percy later on because nobody likes Percy.**

 **Those who love Neville may want to avoid this fic as while I do not hate him, I don't particularly enjoy him either so I will mostly be ignoring him. I am not bashing him nor do I hate those who love Neville, I am just not one of those people.**

 **Pairing will be a harem and there will be lemons in, as well as vulgarity.**

 **To alleviate some fears there will be no overpowered-ness in the fic until possibly nearer the end, no rape scenes of decent characters (bad guys are open if the readers request it, though do not get your hopes up if you are into that sort of thing), there will also be limited slash (no Drarry, or Harry and Severus, or Voldemort, or Fenrir, or Lucius), although I am not sure how I would bring this in and I may not even include it at all save for background characters.**

 **There will be violence, blood and gore, references to child abuse and neglect (as well as sweet revenge for said acts) as well as the aforementioned sexy times.**

 **Finally this is my first story so forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes, point them out but be constructive about it, nobody likes a bunch of butt-hurt** **commenters.**

Many people often wonder what the afterlife looks like. Some people imagine it as a paradise in the clouds, others as a pit of burning fire full of torture and damnation. Or perhaps simply a black void. Or a white void. Everyone always thinks of voids when it comes to the afterlife. Other people's ideas on the afterlife meant little to me. I tried not to think about that kind of thing. I believed in no religion, at least not when it came to the stories that some take literally and believe wholeheartedly in, so the concept of death did frighten me, as I had no idea just what to expect when I eventually died. I say eventually as I had no plans on dying early, or at least before I reached a respectable age. At least 60 or so. Maybe get myself a wife and kids too.. You maybe wondering just why i'm talking about what awaits us post-mortem and what my plans are during my life. Or should I say "what my plans _were_ ".

By this point you should have guessed that I'm dead. Gone. No heartbeat. "We lost another one doc!". Etc. How? I had a brain fart and stepped out into the road without looking to see if anything was coming. Yes it was a dumb-ass move, and not exactly the best way to go. It really hurt! I'm not kidding, I felt like my entire chest was one giant bruise . Just breathing hurt as my lungs were crushed. And don't get me started on the terrible pressure that was suffocating to death, because of said crushed lungs.

So yeah, not the most glamorous of deaths. And the fucker who ran me over just drove off. Though they'll probably got caught, saw one of those cameras meant to catch drunken hooligans on tape so they can arrest them later. Plus I think I left quite a dent in his/her bumper when he/she hit me. Plus all the blood. Cannot forget the blood. 'Specially since it was mine! At least it probably was, who knows how many people he/she had run over that day. The car did seem to be a different shade of red in some places… Or maybe the paint was just coming off I don't know.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts somewhat so I could focus on my actual surroundings, and not the circumstances that put me here. The room I was in was similar to one of those small scale doctors offices. The ones that only dealt with very minor things or give out prescriptions. The one with the stiff old chairs that seemed faded enough for you to tell it was old, but not enough for them to warrant replacing them. That kind of place. It seemed like it would be cramped, as the place this room was based on so often were, due to the closeness of the seats. However save myself there was only one other person there.

It was a small boy of about 3 and half foot tall. He had wild raven hair that seemed to stick out at all kinds of unnatural angles, and a skin tone that seemed far too sickly and pale to be healthy. He was horribly thin as well, as though he lacked the skin and muscle to cover his body, so what little he had, had to be stretched across himself almost painfully. The child wore horrible threadbare clothing that seemed almost comically over-sized against his insignificant frame, the color looking like it had long been faded or viciously scrubbed out. His eyes however were what drew my attention. They were a bright green. So very bright, it was peculiar. Sure I had heard stories about people with strange eyes that were either a strange color or were particularly bright but I had never met anyone with such eyes. So I was a little taken back by seeing a child with such eyes. But the biggest shock was not the boy's eyes, but more what the whole picture was. He looked like he had been taken out of one of those Abused Harry! Fan-fictions that were so popular. I had read a few myself and did find how the writers of such fics addressed the idea of abuse, and the recovery process that came afterwards. Needless to say I was somewhat **(read "very")** surprised to see first hand, what could only be an abused, or at least disgustingly neglected child.

I stood there simply staring at the Harry Potter- lookalike and drinking him in. Whether or not he had noticed me, I didn't know. He just seemed to be staring at the ground with one of the most intense stares I had ever seen. At least on one as young as him. If it was a normal, not abused child, I would call it cute. But I knew that this child had gone through a lot in his short life. It was at this particular thought that I realized that he too must be dead. I had been ran over and ended up here, meaning the only reason the boy would be here is if something had happened to cause his own death. Presumably, due to malnutrition or starvation based on his short stature and impossibly thin frame. I was struck by a wave of pity and sorrow for the young boy sitting there, to have his life cut short before he had even reached his teen years. While I had died younger than most, I had at least lived a somewhat decent life. But here he was dead after, what I could only sum up as, a pretty crappy life.

Seeing the child sitting there all alone, and seeing no others to keep either of us company I cleared my throat, causing the child to snap his neck up to look at me and as politely as I could asked "Do you mind if I sit with you? I do prefer to have some kind of company while I wait, you know?". The boy nodded slowly in uncertainty, and I thanked him with a small grin on my face as I sat down next to him, trying to get comfortable on the horribly bumpy seats. We sat in silence for a while, the awkwardness palpable. I was racking my brain for someway to start a conversation, and the boy most likely had no desire to start a conversation with me or presumably any adult. After a few minutes of uncomfortable quiet, I decided that simplicity is often the best course of action. "HI i'm, Will, how are you?" I coaxed, offering a hand to shake.

Again the boy seemed to take great caution in his answer before he replied. "I - I'm fine, thank you. I'm H-Harry" the now named Harry answered, before grabbing my hand with his much more miniature one, giving it a slight shake. Again I noticed the similarities to this Harry and Harry Potter, with the name only cementing the fact that the two were scarily similar. I shook my head clear of the thoughts, to Harry's confusion, and decided to keep the ball rolling.

"Good, good. So, ummm." I paused as I realized I had absolutely no idea of what to say. I had very little interaction with children so I had no clue what sort of things they would be interested in. Fortunately, Harry seemed to be dying (HA) to ask me something, giving how he was wriggling in his seat and glancing at me, the normal signs of having a question you don't know how to ask. Seeing this I gave him a nod, as if silently giving him permission to talk.

"Um, Mr Will. I w-was just wondering, um where, ah are we?" Harry meekly asked, flinching as if he were about to be struck.

Suppressing the rage I felt towards the people who had contributed to his behavior, I instead thought of how to answer the question. I could lie sprout off all kinds of bullshit, like how this is all a dream, or how he's just imagining this. Or I could bite the bullet and come out and say the truth. Looking back at the child, I saw in his eyes a need. A burning need to know the truth, even if it wasn't what he want to hear. "Well Harry," I sighed, knowing I was not about to enjoy saying what came next "I do believe that we are unfortunately quite dead." This of course had the expected outcome. Harry stiffened as though his whole body had been dunked in a pool of freezing cold water. He started to shake, and his eyes brimmed with tears as the revelation tore into him.

After a few seconds, Harry looked at me through watery eyes and said "Are, are you sure we're …?", trailing off at the last second, afraid that finishing the thought would only confirm it. Solemnly, I nodded my head in affirmation. His breakdown seemed to happen in slow motion. He slowly curled up, bringing his legs onto his chair and wrapping them in his arms as he hugged himself, as he quietly wept. I didn't know how to react. All I could think to do was to join him. So I did. I wrapped my arms around him, even as he stiffened and stopped his crying for a second, as I let my own tears fall.

Giving this small, broken child the confirmation that both our lives were over was big not only for Harry but for me, as I had destroyed both our hopes that this was anything else but the afterlife. We sat there, I don't know how long, holding each other as we let our emotions overwhelm us. Harry had eventually relaxed into my arms as we both supported each other through this disquieting event. Eventually, the tears stopped, even as we took shallow breaths, and continued to hold one another. "Thank you" Harry whispered, his head against my chest and his arms around my waist.

"Don't, _sniff,_ mention it kid. And thank you too. I needed a hug just about then." Having, somewhat, finished our emotional breakdowns, I found myself glancing around the room we were in once more. Nothing much had changed, no one new had entered and the walls were the same boring beige, the seats still as uncomfortable as they appeared. But the one thing that was new, was the appearance of a door. Just, poof, a door. Almost like magic. Well given that we were dead, there was little that could surprise me at this point, so a door appearing from nowhere was not truly groundbreaking. Nudging my little friend who was still clinging onto my stomach in a grip which was beginning to get a little uncomfortable, I pointed at the door and told him "I think we're meant to go through there."

Again Harry froze, and looked at me with worried eyes, simply asking "What's gonna happen when we go through there Mr Will?" Seeing him so afraid and asking such a question I just wanted to pull him into another hug, but I knew that we may never leave this place if I just kept giving him hugs whenever he looked like he was going to breakdown.

"I don't know Harry. But we're never going to know if we just sit here doing nothing now are we?" I replied, trying to inject a little enthusiasm, and to encourage him go along with it. Harry pulled himself away from me, staring at the door for a good minute or so before turning to me and nodding, his features set, with little to no hesitation in his eyes. I was proud to see that not all of the boy's courage had been crushed by those who "cared" for him. I stood and grabbed his hand, while gently pulling him to his feet. Together we made our way to the door. I grabbed the handle before glancing at Harry, either to encourage him, or myself I did not , I turned the handle and pushed open the door.

Beyond the portal was what could only be described as a typical office, complete with desk, notebooks, even one of those swirly chairs that everyone who owned one just span on until they were almost sick. The chair also seemed to be facing away from us I noticed. The reason for this was revealed when the chair spun around to reveal a small blonde woman with a megawatt smile on her face. The kind you see on cartoon characters who are probably on crack. Me and Harry continued to stare at the woman who quite frankly looked as if she was an escapee from a mental institute. Saying the first thing that came to my mind I blurted out "You do know the reveal through spinny chair is kinda cliche?".

The woman simply burst out laughing, while Harry gave a little giggle besides me. As they both calmed down after my humorous deadpan, the woman gave us another one of her somewhat creepy smiles. "Ha ha, yeah I know, everyone says that. Still doesn't make it any less funny the next time someone says it. Also I've found people are a lot calmer after they've joked about something. Really helps in this kind of job. Anywho, why don't I introduce myself, I'm Maria and I will be your Death Consultant for today." she finished in what was obviously a practiced line, that she still managed to make sound natural.

I raised an eyebrow at the title Maria seemed to be giving herself. "Wait, what do you mean Death Consultant? Why would we need to consult anyone about anything? We're dead. End of story. So why not just cart us both up to Heaven or Hell or wherever and be done with it?"

"Yeah, w-why are we here Miss Maria?" Harry added.

"Well you two, that is quite the complicated story.", she replied as she pulled out two folders, one with my name on it, and a slightly thinner one with the name Harry J P printed near the top "I'm just going to come out and say it, neither of you two were supposed to die just yet." Me and Harry were both stunned to hear this, as not five minutes earlier we were both breaking down about the fact we were dead, and then coming to terms with it just afterwards. To hear that we were not supposed to die was unbelievable to say the least. Before we could begin to question her about what this meant, she was already continuing. "Now, this actually happens a lot more than you would think. So people like myself were created to help deal with these situations. We help calm down the victims, explain what's going on etc, etc. Afterwards we usually send them back into their body while the guys upstairs try to fix stuff so that A) you will survive being put back into your body and continue to do so, and B) the same mistake doesn't happen again. This doesn't always work, or sometimes the people involved are of greater significance than the masses around them. That is what is true for the two of you." She concluded.

We sat there digesting the information Maria had given us. "So in summary we weren't meant to die and you're here to say we're going back?" I said, giving Maria a look commonly seen on those dying men who found an oasis in the middle of the desert.

"Well, that's what happens normally but not for you two" she at least had the decency to look sheepish and embarrassed as she told us this, and my look turned to one that was like those who found their oasis was really a mirage all along. Kind of a kick in the nuts that one.

"What do you mean not for us? What's so special about us that we can't go back?" I yelled at her,not even noticing Harry flinching once more at my louder more harsh tone. But my rage was justified. This woman had dangled a way for us to live again in front of our noses and then told us it was impossible. What else was I supposed to feel?

While Harry had frozen up at the sound of my shouting, Maria had little to no reaction, other than to continue. "Because we need your help."

Again, I had no idea how to react. This random woman claiming to be our Death Consultant had just told us we couldn't go back because they needed my help? My confusion must have passed onto my face as the woman sighed before carrying on.

"Yes, we need your help. Both of you. Kind of. Let me explain. Harry has a very difficult destiny ahead of him. One that because of his treatment by his 'family'" she spat with a mixture of venom and sarcasm "he may never be able to accomplish, or if he did, it certainly wouldn't end very well for those involved." Maria explained rapidly.

"Wait!" I interrupted "What kind of "destiny" are we talking about here. He's just a kid isn't he?"

"Well if you stop interrupting me maybe I'll be able to explain" she snapped giving me an icy glare which had be cowering in my seat. Who knew such a bubbly woman could have such an impressive glare? Maria sighed again before moving on "Yes Harry here does have an important destiney ahead of him, or at least did before he, you know, um, died." she finished lamely. Once more an awkward silence filled the room before she cleared her throat. "Anywho, his destiny was to kill a certain man and his cronies as well as knock a bunch of sense into a backwards society who thinks that it's a good idea to insult and demean a culture that is miles more advanced, that also outnumbers them like a thousand to one!"

As Maria's explanation turned more and more into a rant, Harry was understandably freaked out by what his so called "destiny" was going to be. I would too if I found out I would have to go around and kill a gang leader and a bunch of his men. Especially if I found out I had to do it at his age. But a number of other details stuck out to me as Maria continued to mumble to herself about "Idiot bigots" and "complete dumbasses".

Rapping my knuckles on the desk to draw her attention I asked "What are you talking about. You say that Harry here has to go kill some gang leader or something and what, clean up society? What society are you even talking about. I know England isn't the greatest place and I know the politicians aren't always the best but I doubt there's enough racists in Government to warrant someone having a whole destiny about getting rid of them. So if it's not England what "society" are we talking about. Some African country perhaps? Or maybe an Asian country with all the child workers and such. So come on what are you talking about? Christ this is all sounding like something out of a children's book for crying out loud!" I finished my rant with an explosive sigh as I collapsed back in my chair, not having noticed I had stood up. I breathed deeply for a few moments trying to catch my breath as the other two just looked at me somewhat shocked. Harry presumably because I yelling for him not at him, and Maria because she most likely did not expect my sudden shouting.

After a tense couple of seconds Maria swallowed and carried on "Well you're not far off with that last statement" she explained bashfully, once again surprising me. "You see Death Consultants don't only deal with deaths in one universe but multiple universes. And in your universe Mr Will, young Harry here is entirely fictional."

When that bombshell was dropped me and Harry both gaped at her, mouths dropped open in sheer disbelief. I was entirely speechless. Alternate universes were real. Fictional characters had their own universes and apparently Harry here was from one of them. Harry stuttered out a choked "W-w-what!?"

Maria turned to him and very gently explained "Don't worry Harry, in your universe you are 100% real, and don't you ever think you're not. But in Mr Will's universe however, you sadly do not exist outside of media."

Her explanation shook me out of my stupor as I asked the one question that had been on my mind since she dropped the fact that Harry was a fictional character brought from his universe here. "But if Harry here's just a creation on my world, purely fictional, what's he from?" I inquired.

Maria gave me a look as if saying 'have you really not figured it out yet?' and said in complete deadpan "Messy raven hair, green eyes, English just like you, wears overly large clothes, goes by Harry. C'mon how many people do you know could fit that description?"

And then the dam broke. The hair, the eyes, the name. How could I not see it before? And there, on his forehead, as Harry turned to face me a puzzled expression on his face and his hair parted just enough to catch a glimpse, was a small, red, lightning bolt scar. It was Harry Potter. The revelation of who I was sitting with caused me to go into a slightly insane fan state. I sat there just staring at him once more as I had when I first saw him, only much more intensely. It was Harry Potter for fuck's sake! He was one of the greatest fictional heroes in modern literature and he was sitting right there. In his adorable pre-Hogwarts body.

I did what any self-respecting fan would do. I pulled him into a hug and squeed. Yes I squeed. I squeed loudly. Harry simply froze in my arms with a look of utter confusion on his face that only made me squee harder at the adorableness he was putting out. Maria gave him a look of embarrassment and slight pity, but also one of longing, like she too wanted to join in on the hugging and squeeing.

After a while I released Harry and stopped squeeing, though it was admittedly hard to do so. Harry Potter had always been one of my favourite stories both when I was younger and even when I was older. I enjoyed the films as much as the books, and I often found myself passing the time by reading a few fanfictions. Most were good, but there were a lot of stinkers in there too. And porn. So much porn. At least it was good porn. Except for the Drarry stuff, that was just disgusting. Not because it was a slash fic, I certainly had no problem with that, I just hated Malfoy a lot, and the thought of them "getting it on" was just vomit inducing.

Harry was still confused with quite a blush on his cheeks, obviously embarrassed at my sudden glomping of him, while Maria simply glanced between us with a neutral expression, possibly hiding her anger at either not being able to glomp Harry herself, or at me for surprising him with my own glomping. "Now" she coughed gaining our attention once more "Harry dear, you're probably wondering just why Will had the urge to just glomp you like that?" at Harry's hesitant nod she explained "The reason to that is because in his world you are the main hero, yes you, in a series of books written by a woman called J. . These books were some of the most popular in the world and were eventually adapted into movies that were just as popular as the books, if not more so. " she finished with the same megawatt smile that she gave us when we first came in.

This did not seem to answer Harry's question that much as he said "But, why would anyone write a story about me. I-I'm not special. I'm just me. Just, Harry."

Hearing him say that oh so famous line gave me a wicked idea. "Well Just 'arry" I said in my best Hagrid impression as I quoted the beloved half-giant "did you ever make anything happen? Anything you couldn't explain when you were angry or-or scared?"

Harry took on a pensive look, probably remembering those times of accidental magic he had performed in his earlier childhood, like the blue wig and the shrinking clothes. Then, I moved in for the kill. I looked him in the eyes and exclaimed "Yer a wizard 'arry!". God saying that line felt so satisfying, as though I had ticked something off on my bucket list. Harry's face shot up at my outburst, and his face morphed from shock, confusion, acceptance and joy, then back to shock again as the pieces fell into place. To finally have an explanation for all the strange events in his life must have been like someone figuring out the meaning of life. For it to have been magic all along was both nonsensical and unbelievable, as well as the only logical explanation

"Ahem" Maria's cough brought us out of the little moment we were having, but going by her smirk she was as amused by it as I was. We turned our flushed faces back to her. "Yes Harry as Will said you are in fact a wizard. This is best place to start with your "story". On your 11th birthday you were to receive an invitation to a magical school in Scotland named Hogwarts. Stupid name I know but it was pretty common back in the day it was built. Anyway you were to go and have lot's of adventures, many of which no child should have to go through I might add. However during these adventure you would be attacked on numerous occasions by a man going by the name of Lord Voldemort." Harry's already peaked interested raised further at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, linking it to the earlier comment about having to kill a man and his followers. "He is also the reason you have that scar on your head."

And with that she fully had Harry's attention as he seemed to focus an almost scary amount on her, silently demanding an explanation which she was all to happy to provide. "Before you were born there was a war going on. The reasons aren't important but Lord Voldemort was on one side and your parents were on another. One day, a prophecy was made that identified someone who could kill the Dark Lord being born at the end of July, which just so happened to be the day you were born. Voldemort tracked down your parents and killed them. But when he tried to kill you, he failed, due to a last second protection spell cast by your mother." At hearing of his parents murder and his mother's last gift to him, Harry burst into tears, but still urged Maria to continue. "The spell Voldemort cast rebounded and he was defeated. Defeated, but not killed for he had discovered a way to survive death itself. Eventually you would face down Voldemort in a duel and destroy him once and for all."

At this point I saw a need to interrupt. "But you said earlier he wouldn't be able to "complete his destiny" because of his relatives?"

"Yes, because you can't very well kill someone when you've starved to death" she explained, finally giving me the reason as to just how Harry had died. "However this is where you come in Will" she said as she turned to me. I for one was utterly lost. How on earth was I supposed to help kill Voldemort. I wasn't even from the same universe, had no combat training outside of videogames, and was currently dead. My confusion showed as Maria hurriedly explained. "What I mean is we are going to send you into Harry's universe in Harry's stead." This drew us both up short as we stared at her incredulously, disbelieving stares on our faces.

"What-how-why?" I stuttered out.

Maria sighed once more, which I had noticed she seemed to be doing a lot in this meeting, before talking slowly as explaining to a child "We plan to send you to Harry's world to kill Voldemort, by stuffing your spirit into Harry's as of right now, spiritless corpse. As for why, it was kind of a coincidence that you died at roughly the same time and was a Harry Potter fan. So really we just saw an opportunity to fix something and took it." She finished with a shrug and sense of nonchalance, as if casually moving souls in and out of bodies and across universes was commonplace around here.

"And what if we refuse?" I challenged.

"Do you really want to refuse the chance to learn magic and be a kick-ass wizard?" she retorted making me freeze in my chair as my mind began to wander. Why would I refuse. I could learn how to shoot lightning and fly and turn into an animal at will, or turn invisible! As the thoughts began to get even more absurd, Harry drew me back to reality with a question of his own.

"But what will happen to me?" Harry whispered, fear lacing his voice.

"Don't worry Harry, you'll get to go to Heaven, like all good people. Or at least most people call it Heaven. We don't really care about the names you give places here it's all the same in the end. You'll get to be with your parents again."

This seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back as me and Harry gave each other a sidelong glance before replying in unison "Deal!"

"Excellent" Maria cheered even going so far as to give a little clap as if congratulating herself on a job well done. "All we need to do know is send you off Harry while me and Will here iron out the details."

Me and Harry faced each other once more. Our eyes were watery. We knew this would be our last goodbye. While I had not known Harry personally for more than perhaps an hour, I cared for the little guy. He was so small and helpless it was hard not to form some kind of bond with him. On some silent cue, we moved forward and embraced each other in a tight embrace as we tried desperately to keep the tears in check. Which meant we were both bawling our eyes out.

"I-sniff-I'm gonna miss you, you know that?" I cried as I squeezed him tight.

"Me-sniffle-too-sniff." Harry choked out, though that may have been either from sadness or from the fact that I was squeezing him a bit too tightly, not that I really noticed mind you.

"Real-really-sniff. I'm really gonna miss you little guy" I said increasing my grip on him as if I didn't he would float away, much to Harry's continued ire.

"Pwlease Shtop" he squeaked out my grasp on him causing him to butcher his words in the most adorable way. Hearing this I quickly released him and apologized while sheepishly rubbing the back of my head. We rubbed our eyes clean though they remained bloodshot and red. Maria cleared her throat and said "All you have to do is go through that door Harry. Then this will all be over."

Harry turned to face the door, and with eyes that were filled not with hesitation or fear like other children his age might've had, his were flowing with determination and anticipation of what was coming. The strides he took as he approached the door were those of a confident man who feared nothing. He grasped the handle and gave it a sharp turn. It clicked. Slowly, Harry pulled open the door. Instead of the bland waiting room there was before, there was only a bright white void. I admit to have been expecting something less cliched but I digress. Harry turned back to me and flashed me a smile. One that said "Don't worry. I'm happy now". And with that he walked through the doorway into the light. The door closed itself as We saw Harry begin to fade away, before we were left alone once more.

Maria gave me a few minutes to come to terms with what had happened and the fact that Harry was gone for good and that I would soon be replacing him. After composing myself I sat back down in my chair and asked "So what now?"

"Now we sort out getting you into your new body" she cheerfully stated. The sudden joy brought me out of my temporary depression if only because of how sudden it was. Handing me the file she had brought out at the beginning of the conversation marked with Harry's name she explained "This is all you need to know about Harry Potter at this point in his life. His friends, or lack thereof, his family, if you can call them that, and how you are expected to act like as him at least for the time being."

"So I don't have to act like him all the time, just for like a few weeks or so?" flicking through the file, taking note of just who Harry knew, and how he behaved around them.

"Exactly!"

"Oh thank God!" I uttered under my breath.

"No thank me! I'm the person helping you here!" She teased me. "Now one other thing I have been instructed to tell you about and I think it's something you're going to love!"

"What do you mean?" I wondered "You're already letting me become Harry Potter what else do I really need?"

The smirk she gave me was similar to the ones parents give their children on Christmas when they know that their presents are exactly what the children wanted and they're just waiting to see their faces when they find out. "Oh nothing much." Maria said somewhat sarcastically "Just Gamer powers, you know nothing major." For me it seemed most of what I did in this conversation was just sit there and gawk as surprise after surprise was dropped on me. This was just one more in a long line of instances that this had happened.

"Wait Gamer Powers? As in stats, levels, quests? Those kind of Gamer powers?" Words could not express my disbelief at the idea. Sure I loved videogames as much as any other person, hell more than most people, but I never thought I would get to live a video game. And not even as myself either!

"Yep all that good stuff. Again you can thank me. I managed to talk the higher ups into giving you this as kind of a gift for, you know, helping us fix our little Voldemort problem."

Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth and wait for her to bite me on the nose, I chose not just keep the conversation going so as to avoid more surprises. "So is that it?"

Maria put on a thinking pose complete with little humming to herself before shaking her head and replying "Nope, least I don't think so. All you need to do is kill Voldemort and his Death Munchers, and clean up the magical world a little. We don't really care how you do it or what you do in-between. It's all up to you. Part of the reason I was able to get you those Gamer powers."

After her little debriefing I sat there for a few moments in awkward silence as she looked at me, again smiling that same almost creepy smile she always seemed to have. "So, um.." I started hesitantly "I guess I just go through the door like Harry did, and, um, wake up as him?"

"Not exactly." Maria answered as she bent down under her desk to grab something.

"Really because it looked like the door just went anywhere, why couldn't I just-" my question was cut off as I felt something heavy impact against the side of my head. As I fell to the ground and began to lose conscious the last thing I saw was Maria holding a baseball bat which she had presumably used to knock me out. "Bitch" I just got out before my world faded to black.


	2. Tutorials suck but are needed

**AN: New chapter folks, took about 3 days to write. Don't expect another quick update,I'm being dragged away from my keyboard to help my mother with redecorating her business so I won't be able to write as much for at least the next few days when this comes out. In this chapter I focus more on the gamer portion. If there are any errors feel free to point them out in a review I will try and fix them when I can. For now, enjoy the 2nd chapter of A new Harry:Life is a Game.**

I awoke in near darkness, so it was hard to actually tell that I was awake and not still unconscious. My attention was immediately drawn to a floating dark blue, mildly luminous screen that hovered in front of me.

 ** _Congratulations for starting Harry Potter the video game. Press Ok to start the tutorial!_**

True enough there at the bottom was a small outline of a rectangle with the word "Ok!" written in it with fancy penmanship. The kind you see on those really awesome signatures you try to copy and end up failing at miserably and you end up just writing your name slightly tilted. Seeing no reason not to follow the instructions I of course pressed my palm against it. The texture was strange, almost like jelly but harder; my hand sunk in slightly but there was definitely a decent amount of force needed to push. I smiled at the fact that I wouldn't be forced to use a crappy touchscreen feature and would actually be using a decent touchscreen feature. One that joined the ease of regular touchscreen and the satisfaction of buttons. Ah bliss. The writing on the screen seemed to fade before new text replaced it.

 ** _This basic tutorial program will show you the base aspects of the game. We will start by opening your status menu. Simply say or think "Status" to do so._**

It was simple and easy, but still when I whispered out "Status", the higher pitched voice somewhat disconcerting, and a new screen popped up, I gave a little squee in excitement. The crazy Death Consultant hadn't been lying. My life was actually a game now. It wasn't something she had just lazily tacked on at the end as a way of fucking with me. My eagerness was unfortunately put on hold as another screen popped up over the status screen blocking it from view and allowing me to actually see it.

 ** _This is your status screen. It shows basic information about your character as in all games. This includes health, mana, any status effects you are under as well as your base stats. How to access advanced information will be covered in the next part of the tutorial. For now familiarize yourself with the current screen available._**

The text faded once more before the box shrunk and flew to the edge of my vision, like one of those black spots that you try to focus on that always moves away when it's in the center of your vision. The screen it self was a beige color not too dissimilar of parchment. And given that this "game" is based on Harry Potter where that's still a thing, this is probably what they were going for on that one. The writing here was just as curvy and loopy as the text in the instructions, so it ended up being a little hard to read but after a few seconds to suss it out I finally learned just what the hell my status screen was showing me.

 ** _Name: Harry James Potter_**

 ** _Level 1 (0/200)_**

 ** _Age: 9_**

 ** _Race: Human (wizard)_**

 ** _Health : 50_**

 ** _Mana : 200_**

 ** _Stamina: 100_**

 ** _£0/0g, 0s, 0kn_**

 ** _Strength (str): 3 (-2) - This affects how much weight you can lift as well as the damage of your melee attacks._**

 ** _Vitality (vit): 3 (-2) - This affects you health and health regeneration as well as your stamina_**

 ** _Dexterity (dex): 5 (-3) - This affects your aim, as well as your speed and how well you can dodge attacks_**

 ** _Intelligence (int): 10 - Your intelligence will improve the size of your mana pool as well as how generally smart your are. Nothing else to it._**

 ** _Wisdom (wis): 10 - Your wisdom will improve the rate at which your mana regenerates as well as how good you are at using what you know._**

 ** _Charisma (chr): 8 - How charismatic you are will affect how well you can influence those around you through speech, as well as improving the prices of goods, both for buying and selling_**

 ** _Luck (lck): 5 - Sometimes your life relies on the luck of a die. Luck affects the chances of getting a critical hit as well as the loot that enemies drop when defeated._**

 ** _Malnourished: Drastically reduces str and vit. To cure eat lots of varied foods._**

 ** _Damaged eyes: Reduces Dexterity immensely. Can be negated through eye-wear of the right prescription. Incorrect prescription will either further reduce dex or not fully negate this effect._**

 **" _Town Hooligan":Due to lies spread by the Dursleys, all except certain characters in the area "Little Whinging" will have a negative reputation with you. This effect can be negated through positive actions to either a person or a community, however this will not work on all characters._**

 ** _Adorable: For once your small frame and wild hair comes in handy as certain characters will find you so cute they cannot help but like you. Enjoy all the inevitable embarrassing boob hugs your bound to get because of it!_**

 ** _Living Horcrux: 2 souls for the price of one! Because of "Voldemort"'s butchering and gluing of his soul into your scar, you have permanently gained the "Parseltongue" skill. However this also leaves you 2x as vulnerable to possession by "Voldemort"._**

 ** _Foreknowledge: Your previous life has given you access to certain skills and abilities. However some of these may be locked until a later date._**

Going over my stats I was left very disappointed by the health stat though based on the fact that I was only level 1 it was likely that way simply because of my lower level. The age surprised me greatly as I had assumed that Harry had been about 6 or 7 based on his size when I first met him. I didn't know much about children but even I knew that Harry was far too small to be healthy for his age, so his low amount of health obviously reflected this. His - my, I suppose I should get used to that - my mana however was substantially larger. Most people assumed that Harry was powerful and the amount of pure mana he had for such a low level seemed to agree with the fact. I had no money to my name whether normal or magical, at least not on my person so those being 0 was not surprising. My stats were all atrocious though, at least on the physical side of things. Thank you Dursleys.

However my mental based stats were a lot higher, most likely from me having the brain on someone almost 3 times Harry's age. What worried me were the large amount of debuffs. If I was reading them right then no matter how I raised my physical stats, the debuffs would lower them to the point of near uselessness. So getting rid of them would be a priority.

The "Town Hooligan" debuff was just stupid in my opinion. How could everyone believe that a 9 year old boy who looked closer to a 6 year old could be a criminal? At least it said some people weren't affected. Note to self, find and befriend these people, do not want to go crazy from lack of decent interaction with fellow humans. I blushed heavily at the description of the "Adorable" buff. Watching anime and reading fanfiction had taught me that cute kids always somehow end up being squeezed into the breasts of beautiful woman. My adult perverted side was drooling at the thought that I too may get the chesticle caress, while simultaneously cursing the fact that I was only 9, and that I had not yet entered puberty, so I would be unable to truly enjoy such and embrace.

The debuff to the Living Horcrux was frightening as I had no desire to lose myself to some hairless, no nose, Michael Jackson impersonator with a snake fetish. Not without a fight first. But the way it was written sounded like I could also protect myself from possession as well. Not a priority skill to learn now but perhaps something to look into later.

Having understood my stats and current buff/debuffs, I tapped the tiny blue screen, causing it to expand and new writing to fade in once more.

 ** _Would you like to continue?_ _Yes or No_**

I hit _Yes_ and the words dissolved once more. My status screen was replaced by a new screen, though I could see a tab called "Status" at the top of the screen as well as another that said "Advance Status". Again my sight was blocked by the now familiar blue instruction screen.

 ** _This is the Advanced Status screen. This contains all the extra information about yourself that you may need. This includes your Reputation with certain characters or communities as well as a map of your surrounding area. Reputation is measured between -100 and 100. Higher positive reputations will allow you to get away with certain acts in someone's presence, convince to partake in certain acts, as well as better the buying and selling prices if they sell items._**

 ** _With the map there are 2 options: local, which shows your surrounding area, and world which shows a great deal more, but in less detail. Tap a location to set a way-point and use the slider on the left to zoom in or out. To open, simply open your status screen and tap the tab called "Advanced Status", tap the "Status" tab to return. Again familiarize yourself with this screen before continuing._**

The "Advanced Status" screen seemed to be split into two sections. One half on the right for a map, and one half on the left for the Reputations. As to be expected there was a lot of people Harry - I, again need to get used to calling myself Harry, - I had a low reputation with. There were the Dursleys at -100, no surprise there. Piers Polkiss was another name in the red at -90, pretty sure he was that kid who bullied Harry with Dudley. After that there was a long list of names for the neighbors and Harry's schoolmates, all either slightly bad or in some cases, very bad, averaging at -40 or so.

Fortunately there were a handful of people who were at least "neutral" when it came to Harry. Arabella Figg, Dumbledore's spy or caretaker for me or whatever she was supposed to be, of course had a positive view of Harry at 30, and a woman called Miss Rosanna who had a Reputation of 35. Harry's file said she was one of his teachers so it made sense for her to have a decent score. She probably interacted with him more than most people would dare to so she saw him more as a normal boy than a criminal like so many others. A few other unimportant names all hovering between 0 and 10 from other random locals were all that was left of the Surrey bunch.

But then it came to the big ones. My Reputations on the wizarding side of things. Dumbledore was one of the first at a respectful 20. To be honest I was never a fan of Dumbledore. Call me one of those crazy conspiracy theorists but I always thought he was planning Harry's downfall all along. All that greater good nonsense and the creepy eye glint may have had something to do with it. I resolved to keep a close eye on Dumbledore. Who knows maybe he won't be an idiot in this timeline? Famous last words those are right there.

Minerva Mcgonagall had a much higher reputation of 40, the highest out of anyone on the list. Which was weird because she'd only known Harry - me, dammit this is still weird - me since I was a baby and despite being cute, they aren't that great at conversations. Maybe I was just a really, really cute baby? Hagrid followed suit on the high reputations at 37, the first non-multiple of 5 in the entire list. Jeez what did I do to get that? Maybe I vomited on him when he was flying me here on that motorbike. That's gotta be worth a few negative points. Sirius and Remus both shared a Reputation of 34, not so bad there.

Next up was the bad guys, starting with ,of course, Voldemort who was right up with the Dursleys with a reputation of -100. Hey maybe I should introduce them sometime and they can bond over how much they hate me and want me dead. Maybe they can swap ideas on how best to torture me. Peter Pettigrew, the cowardly pedophilic rat (he sleeps in a room full of teenagers and even curls up next to Ron, if he's not a pedophile then I'm married to a hippogryph) had a score of -70, not as low as his Master's but still pretty bad, not that I cared much. Strangely enough these were the only other reputations I had. I kind of expected, well, a lot more. Figured being the "boy-who-lived-to-have-a-hyphenated-name" would give me more than just the locals and the few magicals I had met as a baby.

Wait. All the people in my Reputations I had met at some time. Either when I was a baby or when I was younger. So that means that I only get a Reputation with someone when I meet them. Or at least I can see their Reputation once I meet them. That seemed fair. How can I tell what people think of me if I've never met them?

Finishing with the Reputation side of the screen, I switched my attention to the map portion. The map side had two tabs at the far right edge one saying "local" and another saying "world", with a slider close to the center of the screen, just to the right of where the Reputation and map screens separated.. Currently the "local" tab was highlighted and the map was showing what was presumably the interior of number 4 Privet Drive. There in the center was a cartoonish looking version of my face, complete with glasses and tiny scar. Deciding to experiment, I pushed a finger against a room that I guessed was the kitchen, and sure enough a little lightning bolt way-point, along with a dotted line that showed how to get there. Given that I was right next to it, it amounted to a small, backwards, dotted "L".

Satisfied with my knowledge of the new screen, I repeated the steps to move onto the next part of the tutorial. Like before, the "Advanced Status" screen faded away to be replaced with a new screen, that once more was blocked by a text box. It was getting somewhat annoying how I was forced to wait to see the actual screen until after I had read the info on it. Nevertheless, I read the content that this new box provided me.

 ** _This is your inventory. You can use it to store all sorts of items, be they weapons, armor, healing items, quest items etc. There are multiple tabs that you may name at your convenience. To place something in your inventory, simply touch the item in question and say or think "Send to inventory". To move things around your inventory simply drag and drop. To pull something from your inventory, select the item and say "Remove from inventory". This inventory screen also allows you to quickly switch equipped items by dragging them onto the representation of yourself. Feel free to meddle around with it for a while before continuing._**

This was one of the aspects from the whole "Video-game reality" that I was looking forward to most. It may be a weird thing to focus on but I have always wanted to have a video game inventory. Why? Because it is so convenient! No more carrying everything in bags, or dragging something heavy really long distances. Just "Pop" into the inventory you go. I t would make life so much easier. And now I had one! All to myself! Mwa ha ha ha haaa! Hmm. My evil laugh may take some work. Especially since now even my thoughts sounded childish, as well as my voice. I shook my head clear of the thought. Inventory now, evil laugh later.

The screen was, like the others, a dark blue, though I could make out faint white lines that seemed to make up boxes, to separate the different items perhaps? At the top were the tabs to open the other screens but just below them were several other tabs, all without text. The instructions hadn't said how to rename them though. Taking a chance, I pressed lightly on one of the tabs, not as hard as I had with the other buttons, sort of the equivalent of a right click on computers instead of the regular left. Sure enough a keyboard, or at least a box with a load of letters in buttons, popped up. Having expected something similar to happen I was nonplussed by it. I quickly named a few of the tabs, one for weapons, one for armor, etc. I basically took the suggestions that the earlier text box gave me and left a few tabs clear for later. Never know when I might find something new I need a whole new set of tabs for.

To the right of the screen, similar to how the Reputation and Map had worked on the previous one, there was a little cartoon version of myself. Over which were several white boxes, one on my head with another just below for my face, one on each arms, one for my legs, one for my feet, and a last one for my chest. The face slot was filled with a pair of large, round, taped up glasses. The chest was home to an over-sized, ratty looking t-shirt which housed numerous holes, and the leg slot was filled with a pair of trousers in a similar condition. The rest were empty as I had no other coverings on those areas.

Because there was a lot less to go through, I quickly finished with the inventory section and swiftly moved on. Once more the text box popped up with a new batch of writing for me to read. Hopefully it wouldn't be another one of the "read this and mess around with a screen" tutorials.

 ** _Now that you have gotten used to accessing basic features of the game we will now proceed with your very first quest!_**

Yes! Finally something interesting. Oooh I couldn't wait. I wonder what it would be. Maybe I'll get to beat the crap out of something. Or maybe I'll learn how to cast a spell, or, or -

A sudden, bright light being shined directly at my face, along with a sharp series of knocks at the door to my left brought me out of my delusions, followed by a screeching voice that said "Up, up you ungrateful brat. It's almost time for breakfast, and you'd better not burn anything like last time or so help me God." the voice seemed to trail of as it left it's threat hanging. Aunt Petunia. In the books she had come off as highly unpleasant, but going by that voice alone she was downright detestable. Wait, hadn't she said something about breakfast. Suddenly, a high pitched _ping_ rang in my ears as a new, dark **red** box appeared in the center of my screen. While the color was different, the text was the same loopy writing as always.

 ** _Tutorial quest added: Making breakfast_**

 ** _An everyday occurrence in the Dursley household is Harry cooking the daily breakfast. Now it's your turn. Cook a decent breakfast for the Dursleys to complete the quest._**

 ** _0/10 pieces of bacon cooked_**

 ** _0/7 pancakes cooked_**

 ** _0/5 eggs cooked_**

 ** _0/7 toast cooked_**

 ** _0/2 coffee cooked_**

 ** _0/1 orange juice served_**

 ** _0/5 hash browns cooked_**

 ** _0/8 sausages cooked_**

 ** _Reward: 50xp, improved reputation with the Dursleys, 1 piece of toast, 1 sausage, 1 piece of bacon, £0.50_**

 ** _Failure: reduced reputation with the Dursleys, no food for a day_**

At the sight of just what I had to do, my jaw dropped. That was a very big list. A huge list. A ginormous list. And all for 3 people. Well I say 3 people, more 2 whales and a horse woman. The sheer scope what I thought would be a simple task left me gaping. Though the rewards were tempting, the punishment was unpleasant and would not help towards beating the malnourished debuff, and it was the first quest of the "game". I would not fall to such a simple, albeit daunting challenge. I quickly switched out of the ratty clothes I was currently wearing and into a new pair of equally ratty clothes that were slightly more fresh, as well as slipping on a pair of beat up shoes that were a little on the tight side. Crawling my way out of the cupboard that was Harry's, and now my, bedroom I made my way towards the kitchen. The new, smaller body was a hassle to get used to and I tripped over more than once on the short walk to the Kitchen.

As I walked into the kitchen I was "greeted" by Aunt Petunia's demeaning glare and a sharp comment of "Get to work!". As I hurried across the room gathering the ingredients I needed, I took a moment to observe my new "Aunt" (as if she deserves the title). If anything, the books had been rather underwhelming with their description of her. She was tall and bony, not as thin as Harry but rather close enough to be unsettling, almost as if she starved herself in pursuit of the perfect body of a housewife. Or perhaps Vernon just preferred stick insects over traditional women. Her neck was easily twice as tall as any other persons I had seen, which while humorous in writing, is actually quite disgusting in person.

Especially with how wrinkled it was. It looked less like a neck and more like a grandmother's vagina. And no I do not actually know what they look like, I am just assuming. You do not know how many times someone has asked me why I know what they look like. Some idiots just can't take a joke. Back on topic. The face was the worst part. While not as wrinkly as her neck, there was so much makeup layered onto it she looked like a horse who had sex with a clown, and then decided to don a dress and start calling everyone else freaks. So yeah, not pleasant to look at.

After my observation of Petunia (I decided then and there I would refuse to acknowledge her as Aunt unless it was necessary to keep up my disguise) I heard another high pitched ping, similar to the ping I heard when I received my first quest, and a small **green** box appeared.

 ** _Congratulations on discovering your first ability. These are actions you can perform such as spells. This first ability is a simple_ _Observe_ _, where you can learn information about a target, be they a person, creature, or even items. Higher levels will reveal more about the target. To use an ability, simply say or think the name of the ability. However some have additional criteria to using them, though these may be bypassed with high enough levels in those skills._**

Finally a skill! I was ecstatic. I know it wasn't particularly that much of an impressive skill but it was a skill nonetheless. Something that showed I was making some progress. "What are you doing boy!" a loud voice screeched into my ear "you're supposed to be cooking breakfast not staring off into space like that!" Petunia's rather maddening yelling jarred me back to my task. I got out a number of plates before sliding several pieces of bread into the toaster, placing a pan with bacon inside onto the gas cooker before turning to a medium flame.

Then I set the microwave to heat up and put the required hash browns on a baking sheet. I then set up a pan for the eggs and another for the sausages, remembering to add in the oil beforehand, god knows how many times I've made that mistake in the past. As the eggs and sausages were cooking, I retrieved the toast from the toaster before adding in the second set of bread. As I picked up the toast however a small ping and a red box showed up in the center of the screen for a few seconds saying:

 ** _4/7 toast cooked_**

 ** _8xp gained_**

So cooking was something that gave me experience? A satisfied grin came to my face. While the, xp wasn't much, only amounting to **2xp** per piece of toast cooked, it was still a welcome addition. Not to mention if this quest was a daily occurrence than the xp would certainly start to wrack up. As I continued my cooking of the feast the Dursleys called breakfast, I found that bacon and sausages were worth **2xp** each, pancakes **4xp** , the drinks all worth **1xp** , and the hash browns and eggs worth **3xp** each, all netting to a decent **111xp** in total. Just over half of what I needed to level up.

I had just finished serving the food onto the plates when the sound of creaking stairs reached my ears, and I gave a mental groan at who was coming. It was either Vernon or Dudley. Don't know who I hate more and which one I would prefer to come down first. Fortunately my inner questioning of which was the bigger asshole (metaphorically speaking 'cause they were both pretty damn big), was broken when in walked Dudley. Like with Petunia, Dudley was much more unattractive than he was described in the books. Which was saying something, considering he was described as a "pig in a wig". J K Rowling could not have been more right with those words, despite them being somewhat underwhelming compared to the actual image that Dudley posed.

He was wearing, of all the God forsaken clothing he had to choose from, a t-shirt and shorts, allowing me an unfortunate look at all the blubbering fat that he consisted of. It was somewhat hypnotizing in a nauseating way how it seemed to jiggle and roll with every movement he made. He appeared to possess no visible neck, instead his head seemed to float on a pile of even more fat. Although considering the rest of him he could have just consisted of a glob of fat and a fat filled head. And fat seemed to be the only thing in his head if the perpetual "huh?" expression on his face told me anything. It was as if he was constantly trying to remember something, or trying to answer a really tough riddle. A ridiculously styled patch of blonde hair nestled above his head, which completed the "pig in a wig" image, as the hair seemed too blonde to be real. Not Malfoy bleached blonde, but still brighter than his mother's, enough to look fake.

As Walrus Jr made his approach to the table, Walrus Sr seemed to be making his way down the stairs, as evidenced by an even louder creaking sound as the stairs almost broke underneath the gargantuan weight of the "man" who was descending upon them. Vernon arrived at the table as Dudley took his seat and began shoveling some food onto his plate. He was the only person who any kind of media managed to get right. He looked almost exactly as he did in the movie. Wide, with a mixture of a lot of fat and some small amount of muscle. His mustache covered his upper lip, as wild and untamed as my hair, only a good deal less attractive. His facial features were slightly scrunched up, almost as if he was preparing to yell and shout a great deal, which he most likely did so often, that his face had permanently changed because of it.

When all the Dursleys had finished their meal, there was very little food left, only a few scraps as well as the food that was to be my reward for completing the quest. Speaking of… Ping! There we go.

 ** _Quest Completed_**

 ** _You have gained:_**

 ** _50xp_**

 ** _1x piece of toast_**

 ** _1x piece of bacon_**

 ** _1x sausage_**

 ** _£0.50_**

 ** _Your relationship with the Dursleys has increased by 0.1_**

I quickly snatched up the food rewards as I read the message. Now my xp was at **161** , only **39** away from leveling up, and I had a small amount of money to my name. It was only **50 pence** , but it was something. I was rather pissed off that the almost pointless change in reputation but in the end it wouldn't even matter that much. I didn't give 2 shits about the Dursleys. Not even Dudley. He'd only grow up to be a criminal so including him in my vengeance was just stopping that problem before it becomes a problem. My revenge would be slow coming but oh so satisfying. By the time I was leaving for Hogwarts all my debts with the Dursleys would be settled in full. Mwa ha ha ha haa. Once again needs work. Not feeling particularly hungry just yet, I sent the food to my inventory, as I pretended to stuff it into my pocket. No need for the Dursleys to know about my new powers just yet. Or ever in fact.

As I was leaving the kitchen, I stole a glance at the calendar which read Monday 14th September 2007. The date was somewhat surprising as I had died in 2016. So Harry's universe was set 9 years in the past. Well it could have been worse. It could have been in the 90's. All my references would have been useless then! I crawled back into the cupboard and retrieved an almost unusable backpack, that was almost as full of holes as the Lord of the Rings movies' plot (Ooh here come the flamers with their pitchforks and torches). I searched around the cupboard for my school supplies and quickly filled my "new" bag with the secondhand items. Broken pencils, half filled ink pens, and books with many a page missing. Truly it was pathetic, and very pitiable. Note to self, get better supplies.

With my equipment, substandard as it was, all together, I opened my menu to the map, searched for a school building and sure enough there was a location marked Guildford County School. I marked it on my map and a little dotted line showed me the route to get there, just like it had earlier. Only this time I would actually need the route given to me considering I had no idea where to go. Yeah, Harry's file had the names and pictures of his school friends but no directions to his actual school? Being kinda lazy on the info gathering there Maria. With this cynical thought in my head, I adjusted my bag, threw open the door and took my first steps into this new and mysterious world. Well alright not that new, more old considering I was in my past. But it was still mysterious. Well not right now, but it was going to be. Eventually. Sigh, this feels like it's gonna take a really long time.


	3. The first chapter where I nearly die

**AN I have gone over this chapter and the last and changed a few things regarding the format of the game portions of the fic. Now all game information will be displayed in bold like this. Also if you have any suggestions at all feel free to send me a message and I will get back to you when I can.**

As I emerged from number 4 Privet Drive, the harsh light of the morning sun caught my eye, blinding me momentarily. I lifted my hand to block the sun's rays as I started forward while shaking my head in an attempt to clear away the black spots in my eyes. When I was out of the direct path of the light, I lowered my arm and took my first glance at my surroundings. And it was boring. The books, and every fanfic ever, always emphasized how similar the houses were to each other, and they were not exaggerating. Every one was the same 2 floor house, with the exact same features. Same paintwork, same windows, same doors. The only thing that seemed to have any sense of individuality was the gardens, and even they were almost identical. I just prayed, that I would be able to spot my "home" among all these replicas.

I made to move forward when I realized something. The world map was helpful for finding out where to go, but it was an awful hassle to keep pulling it up to try and remember the way. If only there was some kind of minimap. As if responding to my thoughts, another blue box appeared along with a _ping._

 ** _Now that you have entered the wide open world around you, you have unlocked the use of a minimap. This small map will show the surrounding area, and will turn automatically to face the direction you are facing. It will also show the path to any waypoints you have set in the map screen. Upgrades can be made to the minimap, however these may only be unlocked through the use of certain spells or items. Similarly, other features will be unlocked through this method, or through progressing through the game._**

The explanation made sense. Why shove everything at someone all at once, when they can give a little at a time so they have time to get used to what they have. It also explained why my "HUD" seemed to be lacking many of the normal video game criteria like health and mana bars. Oh well. Guess I'll unlock them sometime important.

As I looked in the right-hand corner of my vision, there was a small blue circle. It was about the size of a tangerine in diameter, and showed the outlines of houses as white lines, the roads as black and the gardens were a bright green. I was displayed as I red arrow-head, and the path to school was shown as a white dotted line. Satisfied that I could find my way without pausing every time a split in the path came up, I set off on my quest to get to school. And sure enough it was an actual quest, as a red box stopped me in my tracks not 5 steps out the door saying:

 ** _Tutorial quest added: Makin' it on time_**

 ** _Arrive at school before class starts_**

 ** _Survive the random encounter_**

 ** _Reward: 150xp, £3.00_**

 ** _Failure: Death or severe injury, reduced reputation with the people of Surrey_**

I gaped at the sheer seriousness of what I assumed would be an easy journey. Risk of DEATH!? I'm sorry but fuck that! I was only 9 now! **Level 1**. Crappy stats and no skills. How was I gonna survive some random encounter with… well I don't know what it could be cause it was random. It could be serial killer, or a rapist, or pedophile or a gang member- at this point I started to hyperventilate as my mind cooked up scenarios of varying seriousness that would all end in my grizzly death. My last thought though - of a clown beating me to death with a balloon animal - put a stop to my panic attack as I ended up giggling to myself like an idiot. After where my thoughts were going I was still a little hysterical so forgive me for finding something like that funny. I took a deep breath to calm myself and to stop the whirlwind of thoughts that filled my head.

I was overreacting. This was only a tutorial quest. It couldn't be too hard. I t could be passed. Plus, all it said I had to do was survive. It didn't mean I had to stay and fight whatever ended up attacking me. If it even did. It was an **encounter** , not a fight. For all I knew it could be a wizard who recognised me and wanted a hand shake. Nothing nefarious at all. I knew I was deluding myself but it was the only way to prevent myself from having a panic attack. While I was playing a "game" version of life, I was still very much human, and I could freak out. And I had no "Gamer's Mind" to keep my emotions in check. So with my mind trying to keep itself blissfully ignorant, I closed the quest screen and set off. Finally.

There was very few people up at this time, so my journey was rather quiet. Taking the opportunity to test something, I opened my inventory and pulled out the slice of toast I had gotten as a reward for my first quest. I was rather hungry, given that I hadn't eaten before setting off, but there was one thing I wanted to check before I devoured it. I looked at the cooked bread I held in between my fingers, and whispered " **observe** ". As I thought, a box appeared next to the slice.

 ** _Toast (cooked bread)_**

 ** _A food item, restores 25 health._**

This was my first opportunity to properly use observe, as back in the Dursleys house, one of them would surely have seen me looking at them strangely, and I had been too busy cooking breakfast to **observe** Petunia when we were alone. The skill, being low leveled, showed very little information, but enough for me to confirm my suspicions. Yes, items could be observed, and yes food did serve as a recovery item. Happy at my findings, I wolfed down the toast, giving a contented little sigh at the feeling of my stomach having something to fill it. I decided not to eat the meat I had gained as, while it was a very small meal, my undersized 9 year old stomach had already begun protesting as I finished the toast. A testament to the shithole that Dumbledore had thrown me into to keep me "safe".

About 10 minutes later, as I was walking through a more populated area of the town, though there were few people out an about even now, the path to the school took a detour through some of the alleys in between some of the stores that made up the area. My danger, and common, senses were both telling me to go around the alleys rather than through, painting gruesome images of my death as my mind was reminded of the random encounter that was promised at the beginning of my journey. But another part of my brain, the part that just wanted to get this walk to school over and done with, was repeatedly yelling at my senses and encouraging me to go through with a "Fuck it" attitude. Being the now young boy I was, I decided to follow this part of my brain's idea, and continued to follow the path the map suggested.

The ambience was noticeably different after I took my first few steps into the alley. It was dark, which was a given since it was an alley, and the buildings to either side of me loomed above, further blocking the light by casting shadows over the ground. Every so often there was a rubbish bin or bag that was carelessly abandoned, its content spilling out and casting a foul odour over the area. The walls were chipped and stained with different substances of unknown origin. Most likely drunks who either spilt their alcohol or threw up against the walls. So perhaps, not unknown origins after all. Though that did not explain the red, coppery looking substance that was splattered on the ground. It wasn't blood. It couldn't be blood. Because if it was blood, that would mean something was possibly in here that could cause me to lose said blood by hurting me, and the "game" wouldn't do that to me so early. Wouldn't it!?

As I slowly came to the rather obvious conclusion that coming down here was a very bad decision, my attention was brought away from my beginnings of my panic attack by a low growling noise, followed by a ping and a **green** box.

 ** _Congrats on discovering your first skill. These are different from abilities in that they are passive skills that almost always active, or only activate under certain circumstances, for example parseltongue is a skill that can only be used in the presence of a snake or snake object._**

 ** _In this case, you have discovered_ _Detect Bloodlust_ _, allowing you to sense when a dangerous opponent is planning to attack you, and the distance between you and your opponent._**

 ** _Warning bloodlust detected 7 feet away._**

My eyes widened at the pair of messages, as I slowly turned around to face the snarls. To my not so much surprise, the source of the noise and bloodlust was a moderately sized white dog. Or at least, it appeared to once be white, but it's fur was now a horrible unclean mess, with chunks seemingly ripped out either by hand or by teeth. It's ribs were painfully visible and it's legs were thin and shaky, as if it could barely hold itself up due to it's hunger. The dog's mouth slobbered as it eyed me as it's next meal, and a glimpse at it's teeth revealed short, sharp, yellow canines meant for ripping meat from flesh like their wolf ancestors. I made eye contact with it, my fear preventing me from running like my mind was screaming at me to do. Then I blinked.

The beast took this a time to strike as it dashed forwards towards me before leaping at my throat, aiming for a quick kill. Fortunately I had the instinct to dodge hardwired into my brain as most people do, as the dog soared past me, rolling over the ground as it's momentum carried it away. And with that I booked it. I ran as fast as my tiny little legs could carry me. I twisted and turned through the alleys, trying to put some distance between me and the rather ferocious animal that was after me. My breath came in gasps, as I sprinted in a vain attempt to gain some ground. The corners were the only time I could though as the dog would often overshoot and give me a few seconds to get away, only to catch up again in the straighter alleys. A part of me laughed at the somewhat cartoony way the dog would always run past me and hit the walls at the corners of alleyways, and another part expressed disbelief in the length and quantity of the alleys in this part of town. It was a friggin maze! And like all mazes I just had to hit a dead end. Face first as well! In my defense I was looking over my shoulder to see if I had lost the dog.

As I peeled my face off of the bricks, I pounded my hands against them in frustration instead. After all that running and I end up getting killed because of a fucking dead end. How cliched was that! My assault on the innocent wall was stopped by the return of the dog's growling as it approached me. Seeing me trapped, it slowed itself, as if savouring the kill, or preparing for a fight. The idea was laughable. I was a 9 year old, malnourished, weak little boy. There wasn't anything I could do.

But I knew I had to try. I had tried flight, now my basic instincts shrieked at me to perform the only other option I had. Fight. The dog continued its approach from the end of the alley, giving me plenty of time to form a plan, unless it decided to say "fuck it" and just ran at me in which case I was shit out of luck. Think, what do I have. I have a small body and one almost useless skill. Well, use what you've got I thought, as I said out loud " **observe** " for the first time on a living target. Like with the toast, a box appeared next to the dog, or at least next to it and closer to me so I could actually see what it said.

 ** _Starving dog_**

 ** _Level 2_**

 ** _HP: 50_**

 ** _Mana: 0_**

 ** _Str: 5_**

 ** _Dex:5_**

 ** _Vit:3_**

 ** _This is just one of the abandoned creatures that roam this town's alleys. Left on it's own this beast has regained it's feral nature and wild instincts. It will attack anything that it sees as a potential meal._**

 ** _Reward for killing: 30xp, dog meat, dog bones, £0.10_**

So good news is it's health was as low as mine, it had no magic, and it only had 3 stats, the others being 0 most likely, given that they weren't shown, and I seemed to have a knack for dodging. Bad news was it could very likely do a lot of damage with those teeth and had a very good incentive to kill me. Also that it was only one of these things and these were apparently pretty common. Add all that together and you get a pretty scared young boy. Oh if only I had a weapon or a spell or something convenient that could save me! At that rather melodramatic thought, my inner gamer decided to finally kick in and desperately scanned my surroundings. Any weapon would do in this case and alleys always have junk in them you can use in a fight. It was a rule of the universe. At least in movies and games. Media logic don't fail me now!

My luck seemed to be in as I spotted a half empty bottle of alcohol laid out on the ground, forgotten by some drunk who in all likelihood had dropped after slamming his head against the wall before nodding off to hangoverland. I snatched it up holding it in my tiny hands. And then life decided to give me what might have been a last F-You as a blue screen popped up in front of me, blocking my vision of the still slowly approaching threat.

 ** _You have entered combat. From now on, all enemies and npcs will have their health, mana, name and level displayed above their heads. Your own health and mana will also be displayed in the lower lefthand corner of the screen along with your stamina bar. When your health hits 0, you will either die or be rendered unconscious, depending on the attacks used against you._**

My right eye was twitching as I read the message, the only sign of my anger towards the whole idea of a video game life and the interrupting box, and I barely took note of the blue, red, and green bars appearing in the side of my vision. But what did grab my attention was the substantial beast, now with health bar, name and level hovering above it, leaping at me, jaws open and oh my god - I dodged to the side (read - bent back, arms up in the air and sucked in my stomach comically with a shit scared expression on my face). The dog seemed to move in slow motion as it flew past me, and in a moment of clarity, or perhaps frustration at all the shit this thing had caused me, I slammed the bottle down on it's back, causing it to crash painfully into the pavement, and the glass bottle to shatter and spill its content over the canine.

I stared in astonishment at the now broken and bloodied glass I held in hand with no small amount of trepidation. I could not believe I had just done that! Oh wait, yes I could, cause I was staring right at the evidence. Call me what you want but blind to the truth I am not. But what had paralyzed me was the sight of blood on the bottle. I may have been accepting of violence in my last life, but I had never seen a good amount of blood in real life. In movies and games for sure. But barely any in reality. It actually made me rather nauseous the amount that was on the bottle and the way it dripped and mixed with the alcohol as it fell onto the … dog right at my feet - oh shit!

I jumped away from it as it struggled to it's feet. Evidently my attack must have done quite a bit of damage by the way it was struggling to stand. Or perhaps its hunger combined with the blow to the spine just put it in enough pain to daze it. Whatever my attack had done, the only thing that showed just how much damage I'd done was the dog's health bar which had dropped a surprising amount, now just showing **30Hp**. It was reassuring to know I had at least gotten it down to 3/5ths of it's health. Now I actually had a chance! This glimmer of hope was harshly extinguished as the dog made it's way to its feet before turning to face me. The look in it's eyes were no longer just of hunger. They were the eyes of a very pissed off predator.

Before I had time to react, whether consciously or unconsciously, the dog had leapt at me and latched onto my arm, it's keen teeth penetrating my shirt and into my skin. For a few seconds I felt nothing, before I screamed in unholy pain and terror as my arm was mauled at by this brute. The feeling of my skin being put under such precise pressure as it was punctured and ripped was agonizing. My nerves felt as if they were being shocked with electricity before being branded with a fire stoker. In a slightly delusional state from the pain I was enduring, I noticed my health bar lose a rather large chunk, dropping to around **20Hp** , and continuing to drop as the dog shook my arm, igniting further pain.

At that point I knew I was about to die. I was going to be killed by some damn, common, flea ridden, half starved mutt at only **level 1**! As my health dropped to 10 points. I closed my eyes in fear. I didn't want to die again. And this time I got to feel my life fade away. Everything was dulling. I could hardly hear, smell, or feel anything. Except for pain. Pain and fear. Pain, fear, anger, desperation! I didn't want to die like this!

Many fans of the Harry Potter series, as well as fans of the many other series' that involve fantasy elements, know that magic is linked with emotion. Case and point "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" when Harry blew his Aunt Marge up like a balloon in a fit of anger. So it should come as no surprise that because of the rather heavy negative emotions going on inside me at that point, that my magic reacted rather violently to the cause of said emotions.

The feeling of pain was lessened considerably, as with a yelp, the dog was forced to let go of my arm as it was flung into the air before slamming into a wall with a sickening crunch of what was undoubtedly the breaking of bones. It's health bar dropped to **0** before fading away. I sat there, shaking in a state of emotional turmoil. I had no idea what I should be feeling. Shock, anger, sadness, joy, sick? That last one had the most appeal as I looked at the broken and bloodied body of the dog that not 10 seconds ago had been gnawing on my arm. I felt the bile rise up, burning and bubbling in my throat as I turned to the side and emptied the meager contents of my stomach onto the ground. I retched and coughed and spat out vomit for a few minutes, as my body convulsed against my will and my vision swam.

Having cleared my stomach, I sat on my hands and knees just shaking. Just shaking. I had never imagined what killing something would feel like. I felt… unclean. Like I had violated something. The feeling of my puke running over my hands did little to shake me out of my breakdown. It took me a while but I was finally able to spit out and/or swallow down whatever bile was left as I pushed myself away from the sick, sit back down, and take a look at my injury. It was bad that was for sure. The dog's teeth had shredded my shirt leaving a huge gaping hole, and my skin was ripped up and bleeding heavily as well. A quick check of my Health bar showed it had stopped at **5Hp** which meant that if the rabid animal had held on for a few seconds more I would surely have died. The worst part was that I was feeling so weak. Not just because of the emotional stress I was under having almost died, but physically as well, reflecting the state of my Health.

It was after having a glimpse of the regurgitated remains of my light breakfast that I remembered that I still had my healing food. Opening up my inventory and pulling out my sausage (ha ha, multiple entendre), and bacon before observing them, hoping it would be enough to get me back to a healthy level.

 ** _Bacon_**

 ** _A food item, restores 20 health_**

 ** _Sausage_**

 ** _A food item, restores 15 health_**

I breathed a sigh of relief. While it wouldn't heal me completely, it would take me to a somewhat healthy **40Hp** out of **50Hp**. Forcing the food into my recently cleared stomach was not enjoyable in the slightest, despite being almost ravenous after having a very small breakfast, the intense "exercise" I just went through, and losing whatever I had left afterwards. As I got to my feet, my gaze traveled to the corpse of the dog in front of me. While I was still shaken after my encounter with it, and was holding down my food from making another appearance, it was with a sick curiosity that made me walk towards it.

If anything the sight was worse up close. It's back was filled with shards of glass that dug into it's flesh, with blood seeping out. It was twisted at an unnatural angle as the bones that kept its structure were bent and broken. The smell was overwhelming, a mixture of coppery blood and disease filled flesh. Above the cadaver was curiously, a box that read:

 ** _Harvest_**

Mildly disturbed by the choice of words and the implications, but still willing to see just what clicking the box would do, I did just that. I regretted it almost instantly. I seemed to lose all control of my body, as if it was being guided by another. I sat on my knees and with inhuman strength, thrust my hands into the body! My mind drew a blank as my hands rooted around in the flesh of the dog before seemingly dragging something out of it. At this point I was freaking out mentally. I had no control over myself at this point despite all my attempts to tell my body to stop. I was cycling through emotions faster than I could handle, and my brain seemed to shut down for a few seconds before rebooting. When I regained a conscious view of the world I was holding of all things, a small bag. The body of the dog, as well as its blood that had previously stained the wall as well as my hands, were gone.

While still very nauseous, I forced down the desire to vomit for a second time in the past 20 minutes and instead tried to focus on just why I shoved my hands into a dead dog and pulled out a clean brown sack, all without being in control of my body while it happened. It all happened when I pressed the Harvest button. Perhaps it was a built in way to make the act easier. So I didn't hesitate to retrieve my rewards for defeating my opponents. If it was, why did it have to be so disgusting and traumatizing. I was going to have nightmares for weeks just from the dog trying to kill me, now I have to add this on top of that?

Shaking away my rising anger towards the universe for putting me in this situation I instead turned my attention back to the bag I was holding onto. It was held shut by a simple red ribbon. Gently pulling it loose, the sack opened up to show a handful of bones, a lump of meat and a 10 pence coin. At first I was confused at the seemingly random contents, before I remembered that the dogs **Observe** information page showed that it would drop some bones, meat and some money. I quickly dumped the meat and bones into a miscellaneous tab and the coin seemed to automatically join the rest of my money in my inventory.

Realizing that I was still due for school, I swept myself clear of some of the dust and grime I had accumulated in the alley and set off. As I was making my way back out to the street through the labyrinth of alleys a screen popped up, startling me, as my adrenaline was still pumping through my blood and keeping me at high alert.

 ** _Because of you fight with your first enemy, you have learned a number of abilities and skills._**

 ** _You have learned:_**

 ** _Blunt weapons mastery(_** _Skill_ ** _Lv1 20%): Increases the damage and swing speed of blunt weapons by 5%_**

 ** _Magical push(_** _Ability_ **_Lv1 10%): Force an opponent back with magic. Deals 20 damage (can be increased if the target hits something while being pushed), range of 5 meters, costs 20Mp_**

 ** _Dodging(_** _Skill_ ** _Lv1 30%): Increases the chance to dodge an enemy attack. Currently +5% chance to dodge._**

 ** _Sprinting(_** _Skill_ **_Lv2 5%): Increases the speed you can sprint as well as how much stamina it uses. Currently 7Mph, 47 stamina cost per minute_**

This was arguably the only good thing about the whole endeavor, I mused as I walked down the street, avoiding looking at the more significant amount of people on the streets who were looking at me with thinly veiled, if not at all hidden, looks of disdain. It was understandable though as I had just emerged from an alley in horribly oversized, used clothes that now had a huge hole in the arm. So it made sense for people to not want to look at me. Anyway, the unlocking of all these skills helped show I was making some more headway. Now, along with the **Observe** ability, I had things I could train and improve about myself. Especially the Magical push ability. It would be so cool to just be able to push things around with magic. Maybe use it to fuck with Dudley a bit. Try catching when you're always tripping over some unknown force now Lard-arse!

Hurrying along the path shown by the minimap, I actually managed to make it to the school in time. I was nowhere near as early as I would have been had I not been attacked, but the abilities and skills I unlocked were a worthy reward in exchange for the destruction of a large amount of my innocence, nightmares for weeks as well as almost being late for school. Right? Anyway as soon as I was in the school grounds I headed straight to the bathroom to clear away some of the dirt that wouldn't be simply swept off. Finding the nearest male toilets, I quickly washed my hands and arm clear of the grime and swilled some water around my mouth to clear away the smell and taste of vomit that still lingered over from before. Emerging into the now crowded corridor I looked around searching for one of Harry's classmates , and upon finding one, a young black haired girl by the name of Annabel, followed her to the classroom.

It was a rather basic class filled with tables and chairs for groups of students to sit at and work with each other. Seeing people arguing over where they would sit gave me the idea that we could just sit anywhere and that no proper places for students had been chosen by the teacher. I gave a mental sigh of relief as I wished to avoid the embarrassment of having to explain why I had forgotten a load of basic facts that I should already know. I would save that for Hogwarts where I would have a legitimate excuse I could tell people as to why I got something wrong. When I took a seat towards the back of the class, mostly to avoid the attention of Dudley who I prayed was not in this class, or any of his cronies, a screen popped up in front of me.

 ** _Quest completed_**

 ** _You have gained:_**

 ** _150xp_**

 ** _£3.00_**

Allowing myself a small, smug smile of satisfaction at the rewards, I was suddenly filled with an invigorating feeling. I saw my health and mana in the bottom of the screen pulse before the numbers increased. A new screen appeared, replacing the old one.

 ** _Congratulations on your first level up. Leveling up will increase your health and mana capacity, completely restore them, and give you 5 stat points to add to your current stats. These points can be used at any point by opening your status screen and tapping the arrow next to your stats that will appear when you have available stat points to spend._**

Closing the explanation, I quickly went to my status page to check any of the changes I could see.

 ** _Name: Harry James Potter_**

 ** _Level 2 (341/500)_**

 ** _Age: 9_**

 ** _Race: Human (wizard)_**

 ** _Health : 75_**

 ** _Mana : 250_**

 ** _£3.60/0g, 0s, 0kn_**

 ** _Strength (str): 3 (-2) ↑_**

 ** _Vitality (vit): 3 (-2) ↑_**

 ** _Dexterity (dex): 5 (-3) ↑_**

 ** _Intelligence (int): 10 ↑_**

 ** _Wisdom (wis): 10 ↑_**

 ** _Charisma (chr): 8 ↑_**

 ** _Luck (lck): 5 ↑_**

 ** _Available stat points: 5_**

 ** _Malnourished_**

 ** _Damaged eyes:_**

 **" _Town Hooligan"_**

 ** _Adorable_**

 ** _Living Horcrux_**

 ** _Foreknowledge_**

So overall not much had changed. My health had gone up by **25** and my mana by **50** which was quite an increase at this stage. My money had of course gone up from all the rewards for completing the quests and killing that wild dog. But aside from those my stats had not changed at all. Perhaps they only increased with training. It made sense as all these stats in Gamer fics only increased after certain actions. All though I wondered why they hadn't increased for me at all yet. It was probably the game preventing me from increasing them just yet. I did appreciate that as if I had been getting screens popping up in the middle of combat it would have been very distracting. So the stat leveling up would come later like the health and mana bar displays only came up when I started combat and would actually need them. I was drawn out of my thoughts of the mechanics of the game when the bell rang signaling the start of class. A new screen appeared with a new quest.

 _ **Tutorial quest added: School daze**_

 ** _Make it through the school day_**

 ** _(Optional) Show the teachers you are intelligent without showing off to the rest of the class too much_**

 ** _Rewards: 50xp, £1._**

 ** _Bonus rewards for completing optional task; 20xp, £0.50_**

With a slightly anxious smile mixed with anticipation, I closed the screen and turned my attention to the front of the class, waiting to begin.


	4. School Daze

**AN So i have received a very useful review from a reader and I wanted to credit him and thank him for his ideas. They may not be used for a while but I will keep a note of them. So to Blaze1992 thank you for the suggestions. Also to explain some things I have had a few reviews about (actually I think it was the same guy twice but whatever) regarding Harry's character. Remember he is a young adult who has lived a rather cushy, everyday life, who also happens to be a fanfic reader and fan of Harry Potter. He knows some of the theories, has the view of the world that it's split into grey not black and white etc.**

 **What this means is he will freak out in dangerous situations such as when the dog attacked him. And he will suffer psychologically because of it, again look at the dog scene. This is an everyday man who has likely never killed in his life, seeing a creature die rather horribly in front of him, so it should come of no surprise that he is rather traumatized right now, but he is just suppressing it so he can deal with it later. However this does not mean that Harry will do no wrong. He will commit crimes because what RPG doesn't let you go around stealing things. So yeah Harry will be a good guy but he will not be afraid to do some legally questionable things. I know not everyone wanted to hear that or needed to hear that but some people did so there. On with the fic.**

Not long after the bell rang a rather excitable man ran into the room carrying a case with papers sticking out of the closed edges. His shirt was ruffled, his tie off center and he was breathing rather deeply. It was clear the man had hurried here as he gasped out "I'm not late am I?" Suffice to say the class got a good laugh out of him. He seemed unlike most teachers I knew who were always prim, proper and prepared. Huh try saying that 5 times fast. His hair was a darker shade of brown and he had a quizzical look to him, as he gazed around the room hoping for an answer to his query. As none was forthcoming, he rolled his eyes and discretely joined in on the classes laughter.

So the clearly unready man dumped his case onto the desk, straightened up his shirt, and addressed the class "Ok, so sorry for almost being, um late, uh again" he laughed sheepishly as those around me chuckled, clearly the man's lack of timekeeping was something the class was getting used to and taking enjoyment out of. He continued "Now for those who don't remember or haven't been paying attention I am Mr Macnamara your maths teacher for this year, as I've said each lesson up 'till now so I hope you actually remember that. Last years class had a load of people who kept forgetting, had to remind them, constantly.." the teacher trailed off noticing that most of the class wasn't paying attention to his little monologue.

He sighed before clapping his hands together gaining the whole class's attention "Now today we will be doing some basic addition and subtraction, just to get you used to school again. I know most of you are still in that summer time drowsy stage so we'll be taking it easy today." I, along with most of the class gave out a mental cheer at the lesson plan. It was easy, simple and something I knew I could do. Not to mention Mr Macnamara seemed to have a rather easy going personality.

As the teacher turned to face a whiteboard at the front of the room, I mentally " **observed** " him, just so I could get a better idea of what sort of man we were dealing with, and also to start leveling up the ability.

 _ **Name: Mr Macnamara**_

 _ **Level 10**_

 _ **Health : 500**_

 _ **Mana : 0**_

 _ **Str: 16**_

 _ **Vit: 11**_

 _ **Dex: 14**_

 _ **Int: 20**_

 _ **Wis: 20**_

 _ **Chr: 20**_

 _ **Lck: 5**_

I was rather impressed with Mr Macnamara's stats. He was very smart and clearly a good speaker going by his stats. Obviously he was higher than me in all his stats save for luck. He towered over me both mentally and physically. The one thing I had that the teacher didn't, was my magic and gamer powers. So the man was clearly a capable teacher, smart and good with people. The curious thing however, was the lack of description at the end. Did he just not need one? Did only enemies get descriptions? Was my observe skill simply too low to get descriptions about humans yet? The last seemed the most likely given that my skills could level up and improve over time. Closing the screen so I could actually see the whiteboard, I turned my attention back to the lesson at hand.

"Now then, can any of you answer one of these questions on the board here? Anyone?" the teacher asked, gesturing to a series of questions he had written on the whiteboard. They were all rather easy even for 9 year olds, and I could see the gears turning in a few heads as they figured them out. However I saw no one offering an answer. Typical actually. Most know the answer but are a little afraid to answer.

So, seeing a chance to show off and complete the optional part of the quest, and to get the rest of the class to start answering, I raised my hand and replied "I think I know the answer for the first one sir." I kept my tone somewhat meek but still strong enough for the teacher to hear me. The entire class's attention was on me for breaking the tension. Mr Macnamara waved me up to the board. I could feel the eyes of the other pupils on the back of my head. I panicked a little as being the center of attention was never really my thing but I pushed on.

Reaching the board, the teacher handed me a pen and told me to write out my working out and answer. It was a simple problem: 64-38. I chose to set up a subtraction grid with the 64 above the 38. Seeing how 8 was higher than 4, I crossed out the 6 and replaced it with a 5, before placing a 1 in front of the 4 so it appeared to be 14. From there I took 8 away leaving me with 6, then took 3 away from 5 leaving me with a 2. So the overall answer was 26. Finishing with my answer I turned around to face the teacher whose eyebrows had risen up his face in mild surprise. Most of the class looked confused while a few were nodding their heads, either confirming their own answers, or appreciating my technique. Mr Macnamara looked at me and asked "When did you learn that Mr Potter?"

Painting on a mildly embarrassed face and trying to force a blush onto my face I meekly replied "I.. um… read it in a book sir." My answer seemed to satisfy him a he waved his arm, motioning me to return to my seat. I gave myself a mental highfive at pulling off the lie and most likely earning some progress towards the optional objective. A I sat back down and my classmates started answering questions themselves, a screen appeared before me. By now I had gotten used to this happening so I was only mildly surprised when it happened this time, my only reaction being a small jump in my seat. Fortunately no one was paying much attention to me, so no-one noticed thankfully.

 _ **You have unlocked a new skill:**_

 _ **Lying(**_ _Skill_ _ **Lv1 25%): Increases the chance that a lie will work. This is not the actual chance that the lie will work, but acts as a bonus, the actual chance depends on your Charisma, the lie being told, and who it is being told to. Current bonus: 5% chance for lie to be believed.**_

I had hoped that Lying was something I could improve in this weird life/game. Mainly because I could abuse it so much to get what I wanted. And I could think of a lot of things I wanted. Hehehehehehehehe, perverted giggle. That actually got the attention of one of my classmates as they asked me what was so funny. He was a blond haired boy, rather plain overall, forgettable I would say. I dismissed him with a "shoo" motion and a whispered "It's nothing".

The rest of the class was nothing special just some more questions on basic maths and a mini test. I held myself back from answering all of the questions correct, albeit barely. A combination of my adult intelligence and desire to show off battling against the need to still appear like Harry did, at least for a while until I could start carving out my own identity. After an hour of answering questions that I could do in my head in about 5 minutes, Mr Macnamara told us to start packing up. As I was doing so, a new **yellow** box popped up which read:

 _ **Congratulations on earning your first stat point. Stat points can be earned through a variety of ways, though all are linked towards the Stat they will increase. Certain acts will provide diminishing returns however.**_

 _ **Due to paying attention and participating in class you have gained +1 Int.**_

One mental fist-pump later over the fact that training my stats was finally unlocked, and I was clearing away my stuff with everyone else. Class finished soon after and I chose to follow the rest of my class to our next lesson, still having no idea where to go or what was next. I just hoped it wasn't P.E. Not because of the exercise, though that was not something I thoroughly enjoyed, it was more to do with the fact that I didn't have any sports clothes to wear with me and I had no desire to do the lesson in my underwear. Maybe in a few years when I have some muscles on me and I can get the attention of some fine ass women, instead of some creepy teacher who's interested in small, pale little boys.

To my relief I found that the next lesson was English. I always liked English when I was younger, when all we had to do was write descriptions or stories. In GSCE all we did was analyze the crap out of shit to the point where one word means that the character's a whore all of a sudden and shit like that. Because of this, I knew I was once more going to actually enjoy English. Taking a seat in the middle of the class I took a look at our teacher for this subject.

It was a woman this time around. She was a somewhat chubby, but by no means fat, black haired woman. Her face was round and her eyes were a dark blue, almost ultramarine if my strangely in depth knowledge of colors was correct. She wore a black cardigan and a simple pair of jeans. A large smile was plastered over her face as she looked at us, as if she could think of nothing better than showing us how to write a bunch of stories and stuff. Or perhaps she was imagining the crushed looks we would have in a few years when we went onto GCSE. One of the two. I took the moment to _**observe**_ her with a whisper of the word:

 _ **Name: Miss Turner**_

 _ **Level 11**_

 _ **Health : 450**_

 _ **Mana : 0**_

 _ **Str: 14**_

 _ **Vit: 9**_

 _ **Dex: 12**_

 _ **Int: 19**_

 _ **Wis: 23**_

 _ **Chr: 17**_

 _ **Lck: 10**_

There was a definite difference between the newly identified Miss Turner, and Mr Macnamara. Miss Turner may have been a level higher but her stats were slightly behind, particularly in the physical areas, perhaps due to her "plumpness". Mr Macnamara was also smarter, but Miss Turner had a greater Wisdom. So she was less intelligent but has a better understanding of what she knows and how to use it. Her luck stat however was quite high compared to both mine and Mr Macnamara's, twice as high in fact! Maybe it was because of their profession or their personalities or how they were raised! My wonderings of the reasons behind their stats was brought to a halt by Miss Turner's voice.

She started by explaining what we were going to be writing about today which turned out to be what she called a "free writing session" where we had the lesson to write a short story or description or whatever we wanted to. My head was filled with ideas, but I knew I had to tone down my skills so as to appear slightly above average at best. With that in mind I picked up my pen and began to write. It was a short story about a thief in the night as he broke into a mansion to steal a bunch of expensive jewelry and other items. It was an eye catching premise, but still sounded like something a young child would write about. Suitably fictional but with a slight tone of realism to it. Near the end of the lesson, after we had been told to stop writing, I was mildly shocked that I had written more than the rest of the class, though it was to be expected given the fact I was way older mentally.

"Alright children" announced Miss Turner, drawing my attention back to the plump teacher, "now that you've hopefully all finished writing, would anyone like to come up and read out what they've written?" Most of the class seemed unsure, but a few seemed to be ready to go if they got any kind of push. A fair few heads turned to me, either due to me being the first to go up in the last lesson or because they had seen how much I had written and was confident mine was good, or long enough to last until the end of the lesson. I chose not to rise just yet but instead turned myself so I was facing one of the more confident students. She was an Asian girl with paler than normal skin, though by no means did she appear unhealthy, as well as long jet black hair, that flowed down her head. It looked remarkably well looked after, and even seemed to shine slightly. I was tempted to ask what kind of shampoo/conditioner she used. I could just see her saying "L'Oreal, because I'm worth it". That thought made me break out into a wide grin, though from the girls perspective, it must have seemed like I was smiling to give her the go ahead, as she raised her hand and asked if she could read hers out.

The girl, who the teacher had called Tai, turned out to be quite good for a 9 year old. Or 10 year old. I had no clue which. She had written a poem about Vietnam of all places, though based on the name and ethnicity, she presumably had family who originated from there or had come lived there at some time herself. It was a beautifully crafted piece that spoke of the rivers, and the jungles, the heat and the bustling cities. While it could have been better organised, each part on it's own was incredibly well written. When she had finished, most of the class was applauding her, me included. After that we had a few more children come up. One boy told a horror story about zombies and vampires, that was rather ridiculous. I found myself holding back laughter half the time, and so did half the class. Another had wrote a description of a forest that was OK by 9 year old standards. Then came my turn.

I stood and walked to the front of the class with a small grin of apprehension mixed with excitement. I turned to them and began my tale. I told them of a man wrapped in a black garb that blended him into the darkness, observing a manor house from afar, watching guards patrol the grounds while planning his way in. How the thief seemed to glide through the shadows, never being seen, never being heard before crawling in through an open window. I did so in a deep, somewhat haunting voice, almost as if I was telling a ghost story, walking throughout the class, stopping here, running quickly over there as if I was playing the part of the thief himself.

I spoke of the thief's nimble fingers and the prizes they plucked from the house as he roamed the corridors, glistening in the moon's light. I shouted when the thief was discovered and raced around as I described the thrilling chase as the thief ran for his freedom, never stopping speaking rapidly, relaying the frantic nature of the story. The rest of the class were on the edge of their seats, captivated by my tale. And as the narrative came to a close, I slowed down myself, coming to a rest at the front of the class, before ending my story with a bow. The class exploded into cheers and claps as everyone sang their praise. It was at that moment I realized that I hadn't held back very much, and my face promptly took on the appearance of a tomato. Well at least I knew I had impressed the teacher, even if it surely would have seemed out of character for Harry to be this good.

I shuffled back to my seat as those around me started raving about how good I was as a storyteller, and how fun it was to listen. Throughout this I still kept my red face, but still thanked those around me, trying to salvage what I could of my supposed "meek" image. Miss Turner had to step in to quiet everyone down. "Yes well, thank you Mr Potter for that incredibly well written story, it was very, very impressive. And just the right length as it's time for lunch time everyone!" This was met with some sighs of relief as the morning had been a busy one, as the class lengths were longer than those at GCSE, even if the content was vastly easier, and everyone was hungry. Once more after finishing my class, a box materialized the read:

 _ **Due to writing a masterpiece among preteens, you have gained +1 Wis**_

 _ **Due to performing and keeping a class of preteens entertained for a while, you have gained +1 Chr**_

Nice, even more points in my highest stats. Soon all shall bow down before my charismatic smarts. Ha ha ha ha haa. The gains to my Wisdom and Charisma made sense, writing involves creativity and using what you know to the best effect, and acting requires a certain charm (not the magical kind) to pull of. We were soon released out into the playground to do whatever it was that children do. Run around I guess. Oh and eat, as my rumbling stomach reminded me.

I opened up my bag, ready to grab my packed lunch, when I remembered that I wasn't in my universe, and the Dursleys were dicks. So no lunch for me it would seem, I thought as I sat down dejectedly. I turned to look over the courtyard. A lot of the students were in groups, pulling out their food, trading it, eating it. It was as if they purposefully mocking me with their delicious looking meals. My body was that of a malnourished 9 year old who had only had a bit of bacon and sausage earlier, after having vomited out his breakfast of a single piece of toast. I would have taken anything at this point!

Shouting and giggling drew my attention to a group of gossiping older students, maybe a year or 2 above me, making their way towards a squat rectangular building on the far side of the courtyard. Having nothing else to do, and not having the chance to explore the grounds yet, I picked up my bag and began to tail them. They seemed to take no notice of me as they entered, while I chose to stay outside and peek through the window. It turned out to be a canteen area. Hot food was being served to students by a group of older woman in light green aprons.

My mouth was watering at the foods on show: meat pies, beans, chips the lot! My stomach rumbled in approval and desire at my find. But one thing brought me up short. Food costs money. I have very little money that I may need later for something more important. I pulled myself away to the anger of my tummy, when suddenly I was struck with an idea. If you can't pay for something in a video-game, just steal it! A Grinch-like smile brightened my face, and I made my way around to the back of the building.

A red door had been left wide open. I quickly made for it, leaning against the wall beside it. Ok so kinda obvious that I should try not to get caught, God knows that I don't need to give the Dursleys a reason to beat me for misbehaving. Going by instincts honed through many years of playing video-games with sneak sections, I dropped into a crouching position, before realizing that it was rather uncomfortable and deciding that it would be a good idea to use my hands to relieve a bit of the pressure. Before I could start my epic food heist however, I was interrupted by some of the oh so familiar boxes I've come to love but will inevitably hate for constantly interrupting whatever I'm doing/about to do.

 _ **You have learned Sneak(**_ _Skill_ _ **Lv1 0%): NPC's have 20% less chance at discovering you in sneak mode, and any attacks made while undetected will do 2x damage.**_

 _ **While you are in sneak mode, NPCs will have a lower chance of detecting you, allowing you to perform certain acts without their knowledge and without alerting them such as stealing or pickpocketing.**_

The explanation was rather unnecessary as I had played a few RPG's before, so the concept of stealth was by no means new to me. The chance for people to detect me was still rather high, but considering that the staff were old and preoccupied, and I was rather small and easily capable of crawling around unseen, meant it would not be that big an issue. And the 2x modifier for sneak attacks was a good bonus, though it was certainly no Skyrim sneak bonus (Like 30X for a dagger backstab! Insane!).

Peeking round the corner into the building, I saw it was empty. I hurried forward, on all fours, still not used to the "standard" sneaking form all characters seemed to have. Seriously it was really uncomfortable staying in the squat position for a few minutes let alone how long some characters can do it. Back on track. I took cover behind some boxes when one of the canteen ladies stalked past, mumbling to herself about needing some more of something or other. Making a decision, I chose to follow her, hoping she would lead me to where the extra food supplies were kept.

I stayed far enough back that she couldn't see me, and moved slowly from cover to cover, gently laying my hands down first before pushing forwards slightly, picking up my feet and making sure to stop them from just smacking against the ground to loudly. Needless to say I looked slightly ridiculous crawling around like that, and if the canteen lady had been much younger she probably would've heard me because I was making a lot more noise than I wanted to.

We soon reached a small room with a number of fridges, freezers, and other containers, that held my desired delicious prizes. I darted past the woman when her back was turned when she went to grab a box full of whatever it was she was looking for, and moved further into the room. After she had retrieved the box of the highest shelf in the room, because God forbid someone put anything on the bottom shelf so that the older workers don't have to reach as far, she quickly waddled out of the room, struggling slightly with the added weight, leaving me alone. Alone in a room full of food. With a very hungry young man with little in the way of morals at the current time, due to said hunger. I pity whoever had to explain this situation.

I made for the fridges first, knowing that the fruit and vegetables would most likely be kept to keep them fresh. I was not disappointed. There were all kinds inside: apples, oranges, bananas pears, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes. Oh some would call it "rabbit food" but for me it was all I needed. I snatched up as many as I could and dumped them into my inventory, forgoing my stealth for haste as I could hear no-one else coming, and they would have sent more people to get supplies at one time if they were running low on anything else. Which meant I was free to loot to my heart's, and my stomach's, content. Having raided the fridges for their treasure, I moved onto some of the cupboards, picking up a number of snack bars, crisps and chocolate bars, that the staff seemed to have hidden away for a snack during the day. Well sorry ladies but I need this more than you do, doesn't matter to me if you understand cause I won't care.

Finishing with the cupboards I hurried to the pantry, intent on making this my final stop as I grabbed a loaf of bread and some dried fruit packages and sending them into the inventory. No sooner had I done so, I heard a set of footsteps approaching. Dropping down into my improvised stealth stance, I moved back into the shadows of the room. It turned out to be the same old worker from before perhaps coming to get something else that had ran out while she had been getting the box full of whatever had ran out in the first place. My eyes widened, when she made for the fridge. If she found it almost empty of the fruit and veg she might call for someone else and that would make the job of escaping much harder. My heart began to beat harder with each step she took towards the fridge. I planned my way out, remembering where the best spots to hide were and taking into account where and when the backup would pass.

My fear of being discovered proved to be unfounded however, as the woman made for the freezer instead, pulling out a bag of chips instead, before leaving me alone once more. I breathed a sigh of relief. My theft wasn't likely to be discovered until at least later today, and I hoped that people would not immediately blame me for this, given my reputation as a Hooligan. Edging my way out of the shadows, I kept an ear out incase one of the other canteen workers may be coming back. Fortunately, all was quiet, so I scuttled to the exit, keeping to the shadows where I could to avoid detection just incase.

I emerged back out into the school yard just 15 minutes after going in, leaving me plenty of time to enjoy my score for this "job". Jogging my way over to a set of benches occupied by a fair few students, I plopped down my bag, opened up my inventory and pulled out a few fruits to enjoy. Before indulging my hunger, I took the moment to observe each of them.

 _ **Apple (Fresh)**_

 _ **A food item. Restores 15 health**_

 _ **Orange (Fresh)**_

 _ **A food item. Restores 15 mana**_

 _ **Pear (Fresh)**_

 _ **A food item. Restores 10 Health and 10 mana**_

 _ **Banana (Fresh)**_

 _ **A food item. Restores 15 Health and 15 mana**_

Happy with the variety of bonuses my plundered food would give me I happily dug in. However on my first bite into a particularly juicy apple, a high pitched _ding_ almost made me choke as I coughed up the mouthful of apples I had along with a generous amount of spit. Clearing my throat of any blockages, I turned to face the offending screen, glaring at it with all of my hate for interrupting my meal.

 _ **Due to constant use a skill has leveled up**_

 _ **Observe (**_ _Ability_ _**Lv2 5%): Discover info on a target. Current level displays: name, stats, health, mana, level, for any creature. Humans and animals now have a small description about the human or animal in question.**_

My _**Observe**_ leveling up was good news, but it did little to mitigate my anger towards the in animate screen. I slammed down on the close button a bit heavier than other times to alleviate a small part of my anger before going back to my food. The feeling of a slowly filling belly helped end what remained of my anger, and I quickly forgot why I was so angry in the first place. The meal was good, not great, could have done with a sandwich or something, but it would be enough to last me until the end of the day.

Hearing the bell ring, I quickly dumped the cores and skins of my meal onto a nearby bin before making my way back inside. I searched around for one of the kids in my class and soon spotted that blond forgettable kid from English. Sliding up behind him, I followed him into what I presumed would be my next lesson, wondering what it could be. Turned out it was music, if the metal trolley filled with instruments was any indication (think a series of draws only made out of metal wires on wheels, yes it is weird but it's the best way to describe what I had at school). I had never been that good at music, though I loved the idea of playing an instrument. Maybe with this whole gamer powers I could level up skills in the musical arts. It would give me a fallback plan if the wizarding world proved to be to boring. As well as a way of impressing people.

The room had no desks, instead we were all sat on stools in the center of the room. Many of my classmates were shuffling about, either in anticipation or because the stools were uncomfortable to sit on for children who before had always sat in chairs. I admit to being rather excited myself, if only a little, as this was a good opportunity to relax and just bang some instruments for a good while, and make a load of noise and not be punished for it.

The teacher for this class appeared to be quite a bit older than our previous teachers, having a head of greying hair and a fair few wrinkles across his face. He was remarkably thin, and seemingly frail, as if merely playing our instruments too loudly would knock him down or subject him to a sudden heart attack. He was much more formally dressed then Mr Macnamara or Miss Turner, donning a suit that seemed to match his hair in tone. But what really stood out to me was his mustache. It was the moustache of a gentlemen, rather big and bushy in the center, right above his lips, but thinned out into slight curls about an inch from each cheek. " _ **Observe**_ " I whispered, both to avoid being heard and in slight awe of this man's appearance.

 _ **Name: Mr Dornez**_

 _ **Level 16**_

 _ **Health : 550**_

 _ **Mana : 0**_

 _ **Str: 10**_

 _ **Vit: 11**_

 _ **Dex: 9**_

 _ **Int: 25**_

 _ **Wis: 28**_

 _ **Chr: 14**_

 _ **Lck: 9**_

 _ **A lover of music in all forms, Mr Dornez sought to teach his passion to the next generation, and has been doing so for the last 15 years.**_

His level was surprisingly high, being several levels higher than my last two teachers, and his stats were remarkably high in intelligence and wisdom (which seemed to be a trend for teachers). Perhaps it was because he was considerably older? Did stats change over time? Most likely, or everyone would be as dumb as they are as a baby for their entire life. So maybe because Mr Dornez was so smart and wise was because he was so old. Guess what they say about elders being the sages among us is true with this guy.

"Alright everyone settle down it's time to begin." he began, his voice having a certain poshness that only true an elderly gentlemen could pull off, "Now as you have no doubt had a rather tiring day full of arithmancy and literary endeavors, not to mention getting back into the old routine of school, today's lesson will once again be a time for you all to relax and have some fun. So go ahead and pick anything of the trolley." Not even a second after finishing and the entire class stampeded past him to the cart, hoping to get something that wasn't stupid or boring. Having anticipated it, I had been leaning forwards off my seat, and got a slight head start on my classmates, inadvertently starting the mad rush to the instruments.

I glanced over what was available, not seeing anything that immediately grabbed my attention, so I settled for a pair of bongos. For a good hour or so I batted away, making as much noise as I wanted, and given that I was in a room full of 9 year olds, I made little difference in the overall noise levels. It was also rather relaxing, helping me get out some of my residual anger at everything that had happened recently, as well as drawing up some old memories from when I was in Primary school and life was simple and easy. Oh those were the days. The days where everything was still exciting, I had the energy to run around for hours on end, and I didn't randomly start reminiscing. Those truly were the days.

As the lesson ended and we were packing away, I realised I had not made any attempt to complete the bonus objective for this lesson. Panicking slightly, as I really wanted to get the bonus exp and money, I glanced at the clock. 3:30, it read. My eyebrows rose at how long the lesson had lasted, it having started about 2 hours ago. Guess time really does fly when you're having fun. Assuming that the end of the school day was upon us, I chose to stay behind, betting everything I had in hopes I could complete the bonus objective. Noticing me staying behind he asked "Harry, I do believe that school has finished for today, do run along now would you?"

Swallowing the nervous lump in my throat, or at least pretending to I meekly replied "I know Mr Dornez, but I was wondering, um…" I trailed off as if choosing my next words carefully "I was wondering if you knew anyone who could teach me how to play certain instrument. You know as a, um, hobby, or something." I ended my rather decent display with a rather nervous, uneasy smile, putting on my best puppy dog eyes, praying that my _**Adorable**_ ness as well as my **Charisma** would be enough to win him over. Mr Dornez's eyes seemed to soften at the sight of my weaponized cuteness as he answered "Well I suppose I know a few people, but they cost quite a bit of money. You'd have to get your guardian's permission as well Harry. Though I do appreciate your interest, and at such a young age as well. Most others at your age would just be happy to bang on a drum for a few hours."

I blushed rather ferociously as he said that, as that had been exactly what I had been doing for about 2 whole hours. Slumping my shoulders I continued my performance in a rather downtrodden and slightly pouty tone "No chance then. My aunt and uncle would never let me."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that Harry." He paused for a moment as if considering something, "Although…"

My ears picked up on his hesitation in his voice. "Although what?" I asked pushing him on.

"I suppose I could give you some lessons on a lunchtime. Lord knows I've nothing to do but get the trolley out." He mumbled the last bit under his breath, but I could just faintly make it out. My spirits rose at what he said. Completing the bonus objective and guilting free music lessons out of him? This was amazing! My excitement must have shown as Mr Dornez broke out into a chuckle as I thanked him over and over for his generosity. My goal complete, I picked up my gear and ran out through the corridors and back to the school gate. Reaching the crowds of students milling about, I came to a halt, having been blocked by the mass of pupils before me. With a spring in my step, I awaited the appearance of a game box, and sure enough one soon appeared.

 _ **Quest completed**_

 _ **You have gained:**_

 _ **50xp**_

 _ **£1**_

 _ **Due to completing 1 bonus objective you have gained:**_

 _ **20xp**_

 _ **£0.30**_

I smiled at the rewards I had gained. Though it may not have been much, I had not been required to do anything of any major difficulty, like risking my life against a rabid beast, so it kind of evened itself out. The real prize however was with the stat bonuses I had gained, and every little bit helped. Today had so far been about getting my self used to my life being turned into a game of someone else's life. It was not so much about leveling up and grinding but preparing me for such things. And I knew I was going to do a considerable amount of each. There was no way I was going to Hogwarts unprepared for what was to come. I wouldn't try to grind too much though. It wouldn't be much fun if I could just steamroll the competition every time. Life needed some challenge or it would just be boring. Just when I was about to leave, I heard someone yell yell from behind "Hey Freak!" And just like that my good mood was gone.

 _ **Name: Harry James Potter**_

 _ **Level 2 (411/500)**_

 _ **Age: 9**_

 _ **Race: Human (wizard)**_

 _ **Health : 75**_

 _ **Mana : 250**_

 _ **Stamina : 100**_

 _ **£4.90/0g, 0s, 0kn**_

 _ **Strength (str): 3 (-2) ↑**_

 _ **Vitality (vit): 3 (-2) ↑**_

 _ **Dexterity (dex): 5 (-3) ↑**_

 _ **Intelligence (int): 11 ↑**_

 _ **Wisdom (wis): 11 ↑**_

 _ **Charisma (chr): 9 ↑**_

 _ **Luck (lck): 5 ↑**_

 _ **Available stat points: 5**_

 _ **Malnourished**_

 _ **Damaged eyes:**_

" _ **Town Hooligan"**_

 _ **Adorable**_

 _ **Living Horcrux**_

 _ **Foreknowledge**_

 _ **Skills/Abilities:**_

 _ **Observe (**_ _Ability_ _**Lv2 5%): Discover info on a target. Current level displays: name, stats, health, mana, level, for any creature. Humans and animals now have a small description about the human or animal in question.**_

 _ **Blunt weapons mastery(**_ _Skill_ _**Lv1 20%): Increases the damage and swing speed of blunt weapons by 5%.**_

 _ **Magical push(**_ _Ability_ _**Lv1 10%): Force an opponent back with magic. Deals 20 damage (can be increased if the target hits something while being pushed), range of 5 meters, costs 20Mp.**_

 _ **Dodging(**_ _Skill_ _**Lv 1 30%): Increases the chance to dodge an enemy attack. Currently +5% chance to dodge.**_

 _ **Sprinting(**_ _Skill_ _**Lv2 5%): Increases the speed you can sprint as well as how much stamina it uses. Currently 7Mph, 47 stamina cost.**_

 _ **Lying(**_ _Skill_ _ **Lv1 25%): Increases the chance that a lie will work. Current bonus: 5% chance for lie to be believed.**_

 _ **Sneak(**_ _Skill_ _ **Lv1 50%): NPC's have 20% less chance at discovering you in sneak mode, and any attacks made while undetected will do 2x damage.**_


	5. Schoolyard Brawling

**AN: Wow, loving the support being given to this story, I really did not expect so many views for my first fanfic, so thank you all reading and reviewing and following and favoriting and just a big thanks to all of you.**

 **This chapter should be the end of the basic "tutorials" of the game, so the grinding and discovery of new and exciting skills begins now.**

 **So sorry for the long wait as well, I have been stuck with college, hopefully I will be able to put out more chapters at a faster rate, but don't cross your fingers.**

 **However there is some child abuse in this chapter so Be Warned, this will be one of the very few "dark" scenes in this story, as I do want it to be very lighthearted.**

 **Also, for those who immediately thought of Hellsing when Mr Dornez was introduced, I did take a bit of inspiration from Walter, but sadly he won't be a garrotte wire wielding angel of death. But enough about my references; a bit of karma for the pig in a wig we all hate! Ooh and I don't own Harry Potter, that belongs to J K Rowling.**

I let out a sigh, as I slowly turned around to face the lump of lard that was now my biological cousin along with a group of his cronies. And cronies they were for their name tags didn't even show their names, just _**Crony**_ above each of them with **50 Hp** in their health bars. I had never liked Dudley, period. He was a fat, good for nothing waste of space that was so unbelievably stupid he could barely add or count at all. He was cruel, ugly, and was one of the biggest contributors to Harry's misery all the way from the day he arrived to the day he left Privet Drive for good.

No amount of random apologising can make up for years of physical and mental abuse along with god knows how many other crimes he committed while Harry was away. So when he and his equally moronic groupies practically ordered me to stop and face them, I knew I could barely keep up my "meek and helpless act". I was trying so hard not to immediately put my _**Magical Push**_ to the test out of anger and disgust.

Dudley and his little gang seemed to revel in my anxiety as I drew into myself and stuttered out a weak "Y-yeah, w-w-what do you w-want?". He and his buddies grew Grinch-like smiles, as they stalked towards me, perhaps in hope of dragging me off to a more secluded area so to avoid being seen by the large gathering of adults not too far away. Give Dudley credit, either he was brave enough to risk attacking me in front of so many witnesses or he was too stupid to care.

I knew I could not risk anything too drastic with Dudley, as anything that happened to him would land me in hot water with the older Dursleys. So as Dudley started to verbally attack me, I started making a plan on how to get out of this without getting hurt or in trouble.

"We missed you at lunch you little freak, we was hoping to have some fun with you!" Dudley jeered while giving me a look one would give a good meal. God I hoped that that was just Dudley's weird way of saying he wanted to beat me up. I pity anyone who would have to have sex with that thing. Kid probably hasn't seen his penis in such a long time given his disgusting girth. Probably legally dead by this point.

I shoved aside the thoughts of Dudleys genitals (God that was something I had never thought I would say), with the rational thought that he was only 9 and probably hadn't progressed through Puberty enough to develop an interest in sex of any kind. Probably still thought "girls were yucky".

One of Dudley's cronies stepped forward and said "Yeah, we needed something to knock around for bit and you weren't here. Where were you then freak?!" And it certainly didn't take them long to start using that word, as the rest of the gang seemed to start taunting me with it, falling back on their most effective insult. Unfortunately for them I was not Harry and did not naturally respond to the gibe. However I still pushed out a few tears and started shaking a little. Any person paying decent enough attention would see I was faking, but Dudley and his gang were only children and were to busy insulting me to notice.

Eventually, Dudley stepped forward and the jibes died down. Wiping away the tears with my shirt, I snuck a glance towards the group of adults. There were still a number of them there along with their children, who appeared to be watching the confrontation with a mix of sadness and interest. And that was when a plan came together.

Suppressing a grin, I faced Dudley and his mates as he began to talk again "Ok freak, I think we need to teach you a lesson about listening to us." I briefly wondered what he was talking about before realising this was probably a scheduled thing, that kept Dudley and his friends occupied during lunch, before two of Dudleys thugs moved forward to grab me. Putting my _**Dodging**_ skill to good use, I ducked underneath their outstretched hands. I righted myself in time to turn to the right just in time to dodge a wild swing by one of the other Cronies.

This continued for a while, one of them threw a punch or tried to grab me and I simply ducked out of the way. They were large and slow, whereas I was small and nimble. However It was only a matter of time before one of them got in a lucky hit. One of the other Cronies had ended up behind me in the brawl and slammed his rather meaty fist into the back of my head, sending to the ground and taking me down a good **20** health, 15 from the hit and an extra 5 from smacking into the ground. Man could these kids punch! Or I was just small and weak, either or.

My plan of dodging and tiring them out had been working fine up until that point, but now I was rather worried. If one punch could do that much damage, it wouldn't take much for these guys to knock me unconscious or, if they weren't careful, even kill me. Fortunately, before the gang could start to assault me in the manner they were accustomed to, one of the kids that were still hanging around with their parents at the gate yelled out "FIGHT!" at the top of his lungs, which was surprisingly loud for a little boy at his age.

Everyone's attention turned to us, as the kids started hollering in excitement, different people cheering either me or Dudley's gang on. Taking advantage of the provided distraction, I rolled away until I could stand up, Dudley's gang, now all in front of me, and the crowd to my right and Dudley's left.

We stood there, staring each other down, as I wiped a bit of dirt off of my clothes from where I had been punched down, trying not to appear too confident or smug. I needed to look like the victim here and Dudley the aggressor. That meant not throwing unnecessary punches, or at least making it look like I hadn't done anything too serious. Dudley and his friends seemed to pay no attention to the crowd that was gathering, save for reveling in the cheering of those who were supporting them, but I did.

While the children were all ecstatic about the ongoing violence, the adults were rather split, some looking subtly smug at seeing the "freak" of the neighbourhood being "put in his place", some looking disgusted at the rather obvious display of aggression on Dudley's part, while the rest looked somewhat worried for me, one even running off to get a teacher.

I bit back a grimace. In any other situation I would be glad that someone was going off to get a teacher, but if they got involved it would almost definitely mean the Dursleys finding out. Add in the fact that they would be forced to come to school, if Petunia wasn't here already to pick up Dudley, and I was almost guaranteed a punishment. Curse you well meaning adult!

Seeing how I had next to no chance of avoiding punishment, I decided I might as well give Dudley a good punch in the face or other sensitive areas. I raised my fists in a stance I hoped would give protect me, covering my body with my raised arms, and my face with my left fist. It was a basic self defence stance I had seen on the internet once, designed to as a defencive stance rather than offencive. This was the limit of my knowledge however. But it was better than nothing, as one of Dudley's cronies charged at me.

I raised my arms to soften the blow, and the hit hurt like hell, leaving an achy pain and an almost assured bruise. My health dropped down some more, from **55** to **50**. Luckily for me, the kid didn't expect me to block, so was left wide open, as I jammed one of my fists into his stomach.I assumed that I wouldn't do a lot of damage given my rather unimpressive strength, but I was pleasantly surprised to see I did a fairly decent **10** points of damage. Though I was rather weak, it was still enough to wind him, and allowed me to follow up with a quick knee to his gut, driving whatever remaining air he had left in his lungs out in a big wheeze, and dealing a further **10** damage, dropping the first Crony's health to **30**.

I finished up with the oh so satisfying,childhood defining, kick to the dick. This seemed to be a weak spot or critical attack area as the kids health dropped a whole **25** points, right down to **5**. I shoved him away onto the ground, idly noting that the collision with the ground dropped his health to **0** , while observing the rather shocked faces of, well everyone. Not that I could blame them, I mean, if I was them I'd be equally shocked.

The rest of Dudley's gang seemed to hesitate over how quickly I had dispatched one of their friends, who lay defeated at my feet. Even Dudley showed some modicum of smarts, as he seemed to reconsider taking further action. Taking the chance, I **Observed** Dudley and his Cronies, hoping that some extra info may help me get through this fight without serious injury.

 _ **Name: Crony**_

 _ **Level 3**_

 _ **Health : 50**_

 _ **Mana : 0**_

 _ **Str: 4**_

 _ **Vit: 5**_

 _ **Dex: 2**_

 _ **Int: 2**_

 _ **Wis: 1**_

 _ **Chr: 1**_

 _ **Lck: 3**_

 _ **Basic child bullies. Strong and dimwitted, they are followers rather that leaders, and are also easily frightened by stronger opponents, or those who fight back.**_

 _ **Reward for defeating: 50xp, £0.50**_

 _ **Name: Dudley Dursley**_

 _ **Level: 5**_

 _ **Health : 75**_

 _ **Mana : 0**_

 _ **Str: 7**_

 _ **Vit: 4**_

 _ **Dex: 1**_

 _ **Int: 1**_

 _ **Wis: 1**_

 _ **Chr: 5**_

 _ **Lck: 4**_

 _ **A spoiled little brat, Dudley will do anything to get what he wants. He has gathered a group of cronies to harass both his cousin and the neighbourhood, though these misdeeds are often ignored.**_

 _ **Reward for defeating: 100xp, £3.00**_

Ok so that really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, they were big, strong idiots. I guess I could just stick with my current strategy of dodge and strike whenever I can. Or I could try and make my way out of this and hope it ends without anymore violence. Well, might as well try option 2 before rushing into danger.

"Dudley, just take your friends and walk away. Nobody else has to get hurt, and we can pretend this never happened." I pleaded. I knew it was a long shot and that Dudley was too stupid to accept, but hey, at least I can say I tried the peaceful route. My request garnered a few smiles amongst the crowd of adults but less so amongst the group of kids who was looking forwards to more fighting.

"Argh!" Dudley yelled, angry over even the idea of me telling him what to do, or running away (or in his case waddling away), or maybe the idea of a peaceful resolution was just so abhorrent in his mind he would rather resort to yelling and screaming. All 3 are likely in his case. The cause for Dudley's anger was pointless at the time, but what did matter was that he was now charging towards me at quite a pace for someone who was so heavy.

But still, not all that fast, as I casually sidestepped his swing, stuck out a leg, and watched in amusement as he was sent tumbling to the ground. Dudley gave out one of the most pathetic whines I had ever heard as he began sobbing his eyes out over a little trip into the ground. It had only done **5** damage, geesh!

Dudley's crew seemed lost. With their victim fighting back and their leader disabled (read, crying like a bitch), all they could do was look around confused, wondering what to do. Knowing there was probably not a lot of time before that person who went to get a teacher came back, I knew that I had to act fast to deal with the remaining bullies. I wanted to avoid more violence as I was not very confident that I could win at my current strength against a gang who were stronger than me. But I also wanted to humiliate Dudley a bit more. A plan soon came to mind.

Walking over to Dudley's prone and whimpering form, I eyed my target. The crowds eyes were on me, some having guessed at what was to come, others slightly confused. I pulled back my right leg as far as I could, and swung as hard a kick into Dudley's tiny little cock as I possibly could. Dog owners would be baffled by the strange behaviour of their pets that day, as many of them would howl in pain from a sound only they seemed capable of hearing.

All the males winced either in sympathy, even if they thought he deserved it, or their own imagined pain. The kids just ended up cheering even louder, obviously finding Dudley's punishment hilarious. Dudley's gang however took one look at what had happened to their leader and decided, with what few brain cells they had, that running away was probably the best course of action, picking up their fallen friend in the process.

As they hurried away, I spotted something the one I had knocked down had dropped. It was a three 10p coins. Must be the reward for beating him I guessed. Sending the coins into my inventory, I had only a few seconds to enjoy my victory over my opponents, even if I had only technically defeated 1 of them, as I heard an authoritative voice shout "MR POTTER! What do you think you're doing!?" I slowly turned around fearful of what I would see.

The parent who had run off to get a teacher had returned with help in tow in the form of a woman who, judging by the scowl on her face and bun style brown hair, must have been Professor Mcgonagall's english cousin. By her tone of voice and the way she walked, she was both someone of high importance, possibly the headmistress or at least the deputy, and rather upset at the moment.

"What do you think you're doing Mr Potter. Attacking another student! I'll see your properly punished for this you brat!" she spat. And I'm not being metaphorical, she literally spat it. It went all over my face, it was really disgusting.

Wiping my face clean I calmly replied "But Dudley and his friends attacked me first, I was just defending myself!"

"Well I don't see anyone else but you two here-"

"That's cause they ran away after I beat them." I interrupted indignantly. All I got in return was an aggravated glare from the woman.

"You can make up all the lies you want young man but the evidence speaks for itself. You and Dudley here will come with me while I contact your guardians."

Dudley immediately picked up at the mention of his parents and me getting the blame, his sobs abruptly stopping as he shot to his feet with a gleeful smirk that the teacher was seemingly oblivious to. I was dragged rather forcibly by my arm with Dudley waddling behind us, giggling at my misfortune all the while. None of the crowd who were cheering for me a few minutes before seed inclined to help. Traitors! I mentally yelled.

After a few minutes of the teacher manhandling me, we arrived in a rather plain looking office. In the centre was a standard wooden desk that all high ranking teachers seemed to have, that was covered in stationary and paperwork, however no space was wasted and everything was ordered and straight. I was actually kind of impressed and a little jealous. I had a rather small case of OCD that kicked in during my school years so I always liked seeing things neat and tidy. Around the room were file cabinets and bookshelves with a mixture of books, though I could not guess their contents.

The teacher sat us down, though dumped might be the better word to use in my case, into a pair of seats in front of her desk before pulling out a mobile phone from her pocket. I raised an eyebrow at the rather unofficial way she was getting in contact with the Dursleys. Wasn't they supposed to ring the parents on a landline phone or something? I really didn't like the way this was going. Dudley kept sending me smug looks, knowing that his parents would take his side and I'd be stuck with the punishments.

Before I could do something about wiping that damn smug smile off of his face, the teacher started talking. "Hey 'Tuni how've you been… oh that's great… oh I'm so happy for you! But I haven't called 'bout that, it's about the boy." she hissed this last part and I knew that I had the right idea in regards to where this meeting was going to end up.

After about a quarter of an hour passed, me simply sitting there while Dudley kept up his smug-ass face, Petunia finally arrived with Vernon in tow. Just by looking at them I knew I was screwed. Petunia had the biggest scowl I had ever seen plastered to her face. It was so unnaturally filled with loathing, that I was taken aback by the sheer vitriol in her stare. If anything though Vernon was worse. His face was a deep red, his eyes were scrunched up almost painfully in his anger, and his hands were tightly clenched. He looked ready to start throwing punches at whatever got in his way.

The minute Petunia saw Dudley's slightly bruised nose and tear stained face, she darted over to him, hugging and kissing and cooing to him that "Everything will be alright" and "Mummy's here now." All the while Dudley was forcing out obvious crocodile tears to gain further sympathy. Vernon showed no signs of caring about his son's condition either because he believed Petunia could handle it, or if he was so angry he wanted to lay into me as quickly as possible.

By the way he stalked towards me, and harshly grabbed my shoulder, drawing a gasp and whimper at the sudden pain, I was inclined to believe the latter. "We will be having words, boy!" never in my life had I heard someone whisper with that much hatred in their voice. And it terrified me. It did not take a genius to figure out that I would not be getting out of this confrontation without injury, and the thought scared me. I was in a still rather weak, young body and any retaliation could cause things to escalate even further. And if I wanted my initial plan to work I would have to stick it out for at least a little while.

That thought broug another. I had failed rather spectacularly at my attempts at being Harry. I wasn't overly meek, I was much less afraid to do well in class, and I actually fought back against Dudley rather than lay down and take it. In short, my façade had been broken by my own stupidity. Or maybe it was the lure of the extra rewards from the quest. Or even just me subconsciously thinking I couldn't pull it off so I forgot. The reason behind it didn't matter much in the long run, what mattered was I couldn't go back and try to pretend again. People would notice and get suspicious. Best to just be myself. Fuck what that death lady said, I'm my own man.

My attention was brought out of my inner monologue as I heard the ends of the conversation that was seemingly going on while I was thinking. "And that's what happened, it was a clear case of aggression on Mr Potter's part. Just like you told me 'Tuni, he really is a little menace. Just thought it wouldn't happen so soon in the school year." muttered the teacher.

"Oh yes, always was a scoundrel. Screaming, hitting, stealing. No matter what we do he just doesn't stop!" Petunia quietly screeched, or at least she was keeping her screeching at a whispering level.

"Yes well," interrupted a still furious Vernon, whose face was beginning to turn purple around the edges "we'd best be leaving now, wouldn't want to keep you any longer. Need to give the boy his punishment!" His words were pointed and like every other time he had injected extra hate into the word 'boy'.

We were waved out of the office, Dudley being held and comforted for his little boo boo by Petunia, while my shoulder was being crushed under the meaty paws of Vernon as he steered us through the school grounds to the car. He practically threw me in and slammed the door, uncaring of whether I was wholly in or not. Hell if I wasn't the sick bastard probably would have enjoyed slamming the door into my leg or arms and hope they broke.

The drive home was tense. Vernon was gripping the wheel with such force his knuckles turned white, Petunia had a perpetual scowl on her face and Dudley was continuing to give me that smug face of his, that made me want to lean over and punch him to wipe it off him. I was scared. I was going to be beaten by a man who was maybe 4 or 5 times my size, who likely suffered from a myriad of anger management issues, and whose abuse had actually killed the original Harry. So yeah, terrified was a bit of an understatement.

All too soon we arrived back at number 4. When we parked Vernon stepped out and opened my door, and gave me a hate filled glare as he pointed and growled "In!" Not wanting to give him more reason to hurt me, I dashed forwards to the door which Petunia had just unlocked. I was dimly aware of Vernon's heavy footsteps following me, but I was focussed solely on making it inside and to the relative safety of the cupboard. I barely got inside when Vernon swung at me.

Pain exploded on the back of my head as Vernon's blow connected and sent me tumbling into the wall of the hallway, doing further damage as my nose twisted broke under the sudden force. I let out a groan and a cry as I stumbled to my feet. As I turned around, I was met by another fist slamming into my face, breaking both my glasses and most likely my jaw, as my vision blurred and I spat up globs of spit and blood onto the carpet. Doubled over and my vision impaired due to the lack of glasses and the intense pain, all I saw of the knee that struck me was a dark blur. I had just enough time for the pain to register and to hear Vernon start shouting before I passed out.

However my blissful lack of consciousness lasted only a few seconds before I was roughly grabbed and shaken awake by the infuriated efforts of Vernon. My sense of sound was the first to come, as I heard snippets of yelling. "Freak", "worthless", "bastard" and a variety of swear words were all I could discern. Taste and smell returned next, the coppery taste of blood in my mouth, and the smell of vomit was heavy in the air. I was dreading the return of my limited vision, and I was right to be. All I could see was a purple blob that must have been Vernon's raging face as he continued to verbally attack me. Last but certainly not least was my sense of touch. Or perhaps the better way to describe it, my sense of pain. My face and chest was burning in agony as blood dripped from the various injuries that Vernon had inflicted. His shaking of me wasn't helping very much, only further aggravating my wounds.

I cast a glance to my health, and was somewhat disappointed that it was still quite full, given my injuries, at **35**. The small part of my mind that could act through the pain was wondering why on earth I had any health left at all, when by all accounts I should be either dead or unconscious. Was the game mechanics keeping me alive and awake just so that I had to experience this complete agony? Was it interested in seeing me in pain? Because it was certainly getting its money's worth as I was really very much in pain.

My inner ranting was cut off however, as I heard Vernon give out one more yell, although this was less insulting and more an animalistic shout, as he through my limp body into the ground. I could hear the bones in my right leg break as I impacted, before I felt the pain. This was enough to send me back into the land of unconsciousness for good this time, despite any attempt made by Vernon to wake me.

I awoke not in incredible agony as I had expected but more to a rather annoying ache across my whole body, as if I had been exercising for an entire day. Or ran over with a truck. The pain kind of ebbs. Still it was enough for me to let out a groan as I woke up. My eyes squinted in the darkness, my glasses still missing, as I tried to figure out where I was and how I had got there. After a few seconds of thinking (maybe those hits had knocked something loose) I figured I must have been dumped in the cupboard under the stairs some time after I had passed out.

My attention was soon grabbed by a floating blue screen. It took a little while for me to read, darkness and poor eyesight aren't a good combination, but I eventually deciphered the squiggles that I saw the writing as.

 _ **You have slept in your bed (albeit a crappy one). Health and magic are 100% restored.**_

I let out a sigh of relief at that. Thank you mysterious game mechanics that allows sleep to fix major injuries. Almost makes up for it stopping me from passing out earlier and enjoying my uncles love taps. My sarcasm was lost on the game however as the screen just faded away. Left alone, I was given time to think about today and just things in general.

My plan to act like Harry had failed abysmally so there was little reason for me attempting to do so in the near future. Maybe I would play the part to fool the wizards in a few years if I had to. It all depended on whether or not Dumbledore was being all manipulative and evil and shit. If he was a decent guy that was honest and good than I would not put up a façade. However, if he was plotting my end from the very beginning I would show no mercy to him and those who knew but still supported him. The ignorant ones I would leave mostly alone, as they would just be as tricked and used as I would have been.

My second major thought was what I was going to do between now and Hogwarts. Training and becoming stronger was key. Voldemort and his supporters along with god-knows-what-else was out there, and all of them would be clambering to end my life in a variety of bloody and painful ways. I had no intention of letting that happening, so getting stronger was a major objective.

Magic would be my main focus, as Harry's stores were immense (or at least they appeared large). One big problem however was that I could only remember a few of the major spells from the series, and had no proper idea of how to cast them. The only one I knew about and knew how to cast off the top of my head was the Patronus charm. But I doubted I could pull that off anytime soon.

However, if my hunch was correct, I could create spells through the game, as evidenced through the _**magical push**_ attack. All I had to do was shape my magic and give it an intent. I think. It was the best idea I could come up with given what I knew, plus it gave me hope that I wouldn't just have a basic push attack to defend myself. It's determined to have a decent repertoire of spells before I got to Hogwarts. Defensive and offensive, and maybe some things to help when not in immediate danger or combat. Like moving things through the air with some kind of telekinesis.

On the other hand I didn't want to specialise too much. It was something I had always done in games. I never specialised into just a handful of skills. I wanted a good grasp of at least the basics of other skills. Sneak, speech, lying, and bartering skills would be top priority along with potions making. Sneak could get me into banned areas, and the speech related skills could help me earn extra cash or get me out of tight situations. Or help me charm the ladies. Potions were important as what rpg didn't have situations where you needed to drink a healing potion or two.

Alternative attack and defence options were good to have too. I was leaning towards knives or swords, as well as bows or guns. Knives could be hidden and used for quick precise blows, and swords could be good for dealing with larger targets. Bows were classics and great for stealth, as well as just looking cool. The advantages to guns were obvious. Armour would have to be looked into but I doubted I would make much progress in making my own armour. Better to leave that to professionals. Some unarmed training wouldn't go amiss either in case I had no other options.

With my game plan set, my mind wandered to the Dursleys. They would no doubt notice the change I had undergone soon enough and if last night (had the next day already started?) was any indication, they would be angry and respond according to what they thought would put me back to normal. A part of me honestly wanted to use my powers to slam them into the walls of the house and kill them in cold blood. But another part wanted to stick to my current plan. I was not going to kill the Dursleys. I was going to do something far worse. And in a way, them hurting me like this would help me in a way, as long as I stayed conscious long enough to do what I needed to do.

I was brought out of my thoughts as I heard a familiar set of harsh knocks on the door and a screech to "Get up!". Guess it was morning already. Steeling myself for the day, I pushed open the door, ready to truly start my new life.

 ** _PS pwease don't be mad at me for taking so wong (adorable puppy dog eyes)_**


	6. Chapter 6 half done, rest coming soon

**_AN: Blame the shortness on my temporary depression, this story is not dead, but I posted this chapter before completing it because I originally planned on giving up. This is no longer the case, the fic must go on!_**

 _Darkness. Panting. Heavy breathing. My own? Or another's? No. Both. Running, sprinting, fleeing. From who? No, from what? Predator, hunter, attacker. Beast. But who is who? Am I beast? Or am I prey. Hot breath caresses my neck. Prey. I am prey._

 _Muscles burn, sight avoids me. Smell. Rancid breath. Decay, blood, death. Hear? Growling, panting, claws grinding into concrete, feet slamming into the ground. Feel? Terrified._

 _Light returns in an instant. A speck though. Nothing more. Hope, safety. A chance. I push myself further. Getting closer. The light fills my vision. Glance back, see the hunter. Crimson eyes of hellfire glare back at me. Jaws filled with gnashing, feral fangs. Sharp, curved claws rip apart the ground it runs on. All from a large grotesque body of coppery red - no, it is not red it is covered in red. Blood. The beast is dripping blood from every pore on its body, leaving a crimson trail behind it back to the darkness._

 _My pace increases as I seek to flee this new terror. Before it was unknown what was after me but now that I have seen it I know everything has changed. The creatures sprint hastens to, as if it senses how close I am to escaping. My various limbs feel like lead, weighing me down, as if desiring to help the creature to capture me._

 _The light is close, oh so very close. I could feel it, almost touch it. I stretched my arm out in an attempt to reach it. I feel a tug. On my back. Then pain. A searing, burning, boiling pain as claws rip into the flesh of my back, tearing great chunks away. I am dragged backwards, the creature's breath hot against my skin. The light begins to fade again. Pain. That is all I know. And the eyes. Crimson eyes of hellfire, pinning me down. And then nothing._

My eyes snap open as I shoot upwards from my not so peaceful slumber, taking in deep shuddering gasps of stale cupboard air. My heart is thumping almost painfully in my chest, and my body is caked with sweat. I take long breaths as I try to slow my raging heartbeat.

The nightmares were unfortunately a regular occurrence in my life now. Sometimes they were of the Dursleys attacking me, verbally, physically, and on a number of occasions sexually. Fortunately they never did go that far. A small blessing but a blessing nonetheless. Other times they were of the dog. The dog that had almost killed me a few years back. Even today it sometimes haunts my dreams, though they were a rarity.

But the worst was the one I never expected. The dreams of that fateful Halloween. It was always fragmented, never seeming to make sense if one were to look at it from an outsider's perspective. A crash, a bang, screams and thuds. A flash of green. A begging mother. A high pitched laugh and an unholy screech. The few times that I was subjected to that dream I would always wake in cold sweat and be unable to fall back to sleep, no matter how hard I tried.

I was surprised that the dream, or perhaps more accurately, memory, was so vivid. Harry had only been a year old by the time that had happened and for him to remember even a fraction of it let alone as much as he did was impressive and just a tad scary.

But the real kicker was the fact that I could remember it. When I was brought here I was just kind of shoved into Harry's body. By all rights I shouldn't have remembered this at all. And yet I did. My only guess was that either part of Harry's soul had remained and had merged with mine. Most likely as another possible side effect of Voldy's killing curse. Instead of just splitting his soul again and shoving a piece into Harry's scar, it may also have broken off a small fragment of Baby Harry's soul. Enough for me to remember that night at least.

Or maybe it was something completely different. I don't know I'm no expert on souls. For all I know it could be my imagination, or a side effect of Voldy's soul leech, or even a curse put in place by a possibly manipulative goat fondler. All I know for sure was that I had the memory. No idea how, just that it was there. It warranted further investigation when I eventually got to the wizarding world. And that time was close. I had a feeling.

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, a habit that had not gone away in my years as Harry, I turned to the lock on the cupboard, pulled out a hair clip and screwdriver and set about making my way out for my morning routine. How the hell did I know how to do this? Well time for a good old fashioned flashback.

 _Flashback_

 _After the whole schoolyard brawl incident and the aftermath I knew I had one goal in mind. Get stronger. Strong enough to deal with any big problems in the next few years at least. Major problem with that being that I was being locked the cupboard whenever I wasn't needed, i.e when I either had to cook or performing hours of inane back breaking chores simply so the Dursleys could get their sick amusement out of it. Petunia often seemed to find time to just sit and watch me work with some demented version of a smile, while Vernon occasionally took a swing at my amidst all of his verbal attacks._

 _So I didn't exactly have time to hone my skills or add to my repertoire. The only time I had to myself was during breaks at school, and the damn headmistress had stuck me in detention for a month, meaning I couldn't find somewhere isolated to develop myself._

 _She'd even stopped me from going to see Mr Dornez about music lessons, something I had been really looking forward to doing. It was a passive life skill that under my gaming powers I could hopefully learn easily, which could serve as something to use later on in my life. What use exactly I don't know exactly but hey, chicks love a guy that can sing and play. So there's that at least._

 _The one plus side this gave me was that I had a lot of time to think. I knew what I wanted. I just needed to figure out how to get it. The first obstacle was getting out of the cupboard so I could train without anyone finding out. If the Dursleys found out they would kill me. No doubt. They were willing to beat and psychologically torture a young boy who didn't even know he was magical, I didn't doubt that if they knew that I knew they would kill me just to stop me from getting any revenge, as well as using it as a twisted way of protecting their public image._

 _My first choice was just to blast open the door and leave. Big problems with that. Dursleys would find out in a few seconds given the noise, unless they were super heavy sleepers, and even then they'd know in the morning when they found the door blasted off its hinges. Next would be the reaction of Dumbledore. I had no idea what I was dealing with in terms of him, so I was following a very simple policy in regards to him. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. If he was a total control freak than he'd be down here the second he knew I'd done anything he might not agree with, wipe my memories, and then the whole future would be fucked. So yeah, best if he didn't find out._

 _Seeing as my life had become a videogame, I looked back on my memories of video games to try to find the best solution. The answer was obvious. Just pick the lock. While traditional cupboards had a slide lock, the Dursleys had sprung for a key lock, just to be extra sure I didn't get out. Too bad for them it could be locked/unlocked on either side._

 _So I had the method, now I needed the tools. Luck was with me as the day after I made my plan, Vernon decided to be extra cruel (or stupid), and had me organising the tools in his garage for the day. Yep, an 8 year old boy handling large, sharp, heavy, potentially deadly tools. What could go wrong? Though that may have been the point, given how Vernon was "helping", which amounted to him standing and glaring at me while seemingly praying to God that an "accident" would happen._

 _"Hey Vernon!" a call from across the street drew our mutual attention though I refrained from turning fully to face the speaker, choosing instead to look out of the corner of my eye. It was one of the neighbors, coming over to chat with Vernon for some reason or another. Vernon moved to block me from the sight of his visitor, either to stop me from properly eavesdropping (though how that would help escapes me), or to stop him from seeing me and asking questions._

 _The good news was that because of this, I was hidden from the sight of both of them. With an open toolbox in front of me. I quickly scanned through its contents, avoiding making much noise as I moved tools around in my search, while keeping an ear out on Vernon's conversation in in case they stopped talking and decided to look at me instead. Within 20 seconds I had what I was looking for. A screw driver. If Fallout 4 taught me anything, it's that war never changes and a bobby pin and a screwdriver can get you through anything resembling a lock._

 _I sent the screwdriver into my inventory, making a mental note to_ _ **"Observe"**_ _it later. I quick glance at Vernon and his pal showed the two still in conversation, so I sent my gaze back to the tool box when I realised that I could probably pick up some other useful goodies. Vernon barely ever came and used his tools, they were more for show rather than practical use, or at least I thought. The only time I know of him using tools were during the letter incident and that was years away. He wouldn't notice if a few things went missing._

 _With that in mind I set about sending any tools that Vernon had extras of right into my inventory. Spanners (wrenches), some nails and screws, and even a claw hammer (the only thing I took that Vernon had only one of) all went straight to the inventory. My reasoning was that some of the junk could be sold somewhere for money, or at least I hoped. You could sell most things to merchants in games but I was living some weird cross between reality and fantasy so that may not hold true. Any junk that I couldn't sell I could hopefully use to make, something. Nothing came to mind but I was sure something would soon enough._

 _Lastly, the hammer I could use as a weapon. Hardly a very impressive weapon but it was small so I could easily handle it, pretty heavy in the head so it would pack a punch, plus it was better than nothing. I didn't know its stats, I'd have to check that later that night along with everything else. All in all it was a successful little theft session. Soon enough Vernon and his friend(?) finished their talk about whatever and I hurried to look busy. An hour later I was locked back in the cupboard with time to inspect my stuff._

 ** _"Observe"_**

 ** _Screwdriver_**

 ** _(Sharp one handed)_**

 ** _(Crafting tool)_**

 ** _(Common rarity)_**

 ** _An everyday screwdriver that you can buy from a shop. Nothing special._**

 ** _Damage = 15_**

 ** _Durability = 96/100_**

 ** _Spanner_**

 ** _(Crafting tool)_**

 ** _(Common rarity)_**

 ** _A tool commonly used to tighten nuts and bolts. There are many types made for different sized nuts/bolts._**

 ** _Nails(20)_**

 ** _(Crafting tool)_**

 ** _(Common rarity)_**

 ** _Used as fasteners, nails are a cornerstone in any construction project._**

 ** _Screws(17)_**

 ** _(Crafting tool)_**

 ** _(Common rarity)_**

 ** _Claw Hammer_**

 ** _(Blunt one handed)_**

 ** _(Crafting tool)_**

 ** _(Common Rarity)_**

 ** _A hammer with a strong head for bashing in nails, with an added 'claw' that can be used to pull them out._**

 ** _Damage = 15.75_**

 ** _Durability = 94/100_**

 _I smiled at my collection. The screwdriver and hammer could be used as weapons which made a lot of sense. They could be used to stab and bash opponents to death or unconsciousness depending on the situation. That they could be used to craft things along with the nails and screws raised an eyebrow, though it made sense. Why shouldn't I be able to make things? All it required was some imagination and a bit of know how and you could feasibly make anything. If you had the right tools that is. As it was, a hammer, screwdriver, spanner and some nails and screws wasn't going to let me build a whole lot. But right now, none of that mattered. The screwdriver was what I needed from my little theft, and with that my plan was well on its way._

 _Barely a minute after I had put my prizes away, Petunia was yanking me out of the cupboard and throwing me into the kitchen to prepare their tea. Suppressing a glare, I started grabbing utensils and ingredients and went to work. An hour and a piece of bread for me later, and I was back in the cupboard once more. Filling myself up with some of the remaining stolen foodstuffs, I started poking around in search of the other item I needed for my plan of cupboard escape. A hair(bobby)pin. Fortunately for me, the cupboard was littered with them, so I gathered them up and put them all into my inventory before laying down to nap before my daring, if temporary, escape._

 _Blinking the sleep out of my eyes a few hours later, I stretched out my cramped muscles and peeked through the, fortunately, still opened grate to be greeted with darkness. It was night then. Best time to try and escape. Problem being I couldn't see. Like at all. I could barely see my own hands let alone try to pick a lock. My feelings sank. Defeated by the lack of light. I had all the tools but a goddamn way to see what I was doing. Damn you lack of foresight. I was tempted to crawl into a ball and see if it was at all possible to cry anime tears when I was struck with a bolt of inspiration._

 _Light. I needed light. Needed it, wanted it, craved it. And wasn't that what magic could do? Give us anything we want given the right aptitude and power. So what was making a little bit of light to me. I could already manipulate gravity in a sense, so how difficult could making a bit of a dim light be. Redetermined to succeed with my escape, I sat back and relaxed, letting the darkness surround me. I felt uncomfortable. I needed that light. Light was warm, comforting. It banished shadows. Fills us with hope. Light was a basic desire of humans for centuries. And I needed it now._

 _I reached into myself. Desperately seeking some well of power, to claim any I could, even just a drop. And find it I did. It was hot, cold, welcoming and alien, and a thousand different things all at once. It was indescribable. It was magic. My magic. Wild and chaotic, yet orderly. Unaligned and ready to use. I pulled on it, sending the feeling down my arm, while focusing on my desire for light. As the power coalesced in my hands, I cupped them and brought them to my chest, where I felt my magic at its strongest, while I poured the last of my intent into the magic. My eyes closed as I concentrated and pushed the magic out through my skin._

 **And that is it folks, sorry about the sheer lack of anything, it's just been a big rush through January and February. Never got any time to write.**

 **This chapter will be re-uploaded with the other half when it has been completed, just consider this a very big preview.**

 **Anywho onto the results of the poll. They are as follows:**

 **In 4th place with 17/131 votes, it is the mysterious 1st year lemon. (Still haven't figured out what it would have been)**

 **In 3rd place with 24/131 votes, it's the ASAP lemon set prior to Hogwarts even begins. (oh you kinky little people wanting a little hot lady on young Harry action, I won't judge I did give you the option)**

 **In 2nd place with 33/131 votes, it is kitty cat Hermione lemon (Shout out to all my furry brothers and sisters out there, wanting to know if carpets match the drapes, and the wallpaper and the rest of the house)**

 **And lastly in 1st place, we have the kinky blonde bombshell herself, the 3rd year Narcissa Malloy lemon (Did you want him to seduce her or her to seduce him I wonder?)**

 **So that's it. That is all I can do for this fic on my own. I leave it now to you people. You amazing people. You bloody fantastic people of the internet. It's your time now.**


	7. BACK FROM THE DEAD!

**AN: This is a message to all the reader's of this story. Yesterday, I announced that I would be giving up this story and allowing one of you guys to take over.**

 **That is no longer the case. On of you, you oh so amazing people, and you know who you are, did something I never expected anyone to do. He told me a story. Not dumb little fanfic, or comedy, or romance, or even a fictional one. He told of of his life. That's it. Just his life. And his own writing struggles. And how he overcame them.**

 **it was inspiring. There were no other words for it. And it stirred something in me. Something I didn't even know I had lost. The desire to write.**

 **I admit I was feeling, somewhat, depressed perhaps, maybe just tired with everything, before I decided to 'cancel' my story.**

 **But this man, this beautiful amazing man grabbed me by the arm and yanked me out of those thoughts like the hero he is.**

 **So to that man I say this, and I ask that any fans of this story say it too.**

 _ **Thank you Inimicus**_

 **Anyway enough of the sentimental crap. I will be continuing this story, and maybe I'll get around to my other story as well. Though you will have to wait, cause now I don't feel the need to worry about any time limits. I'm just gonna go slow, make sure I don't fall into another pressure induced depression. Don't want to go all emo again. I feel dirty and greasy.**


End file.
